To Lure a Dragon
by Eternal Contradiction
Summary: Sequel to Vivian Vande Velde's Dragon's Bait Selendrile may have asked Alys to stay with him, but can a dragon and a human exist together? Or are they doomed to fail from the beginning? ::Chapter 21:: The rating just went up.
1. Chapter 1

"If I'm going to stay with you, we need some rules." Alys pointed out, trudging wearily up an overgrown path leading into the mountains. They had already existed in harmony for a few days, and in the brief time she had discovered he had an inner sense of cruelty. He preferred walking to flying, as he had never seen the beauty of the land from this angle, and this way she could walk beside him. Ok, so it wasn't exactly cruel, but Selendrile had been dragging her around the countryside for three nights now, trying to get somewhere he likely could have reached in an hour. She knew he was trying to adapt his life to hers, but it was making her feel like a nuisance.

"Rules?" He questioned, voice sounding infuriatingly amused through the darkness. The night was cool, and Alys was not only shivering, she was bone weary, and yet he sounded as energetic as he had when they started out.

"No eating humans," she blurted out, automatically realizing she had unfairly generalized him as a regular dragon. Surely, a dragon who would eat humans would not become a companion to one. Great, now she had probably offended him. She'd be lucky if he didn't eat HER.

Laughter bubbled out of his throat, floating through the crisp air, and surrounded her with its infectious mirth. "I'll try not to," he chuckled.

Alys had to firmly press her lips together to keep from giggling along with him. This was a serious subject, she reminded herself. She knew he was capable of murder. It would be nothing for him to go eat a few babies. She frowned, growing angry at the blasé way he was treating her demand. Why shouldn't she ensure the safety of her people? She opened her mouth, getting ready to shout at him. Luckily, at that moment, she fell over a root sticking out of the ground and landed with a jarred "Oooomph."

"Alys?" Selendrile was kneeling at her side almost instantly. If he was that quick, why didn't he catch her? "Are you ok?"

She moaned and rolled over. He had to scramble back slightly in order to avoid her torso landing on his feet. On her back, she stared into the foliage of the trees overhead. Barely, she could make out a few stars. His head completely obliterated any twinkles in the sky as he leaned over her.

"Where does it hurt?" He poked at her arm.

She swatted away his fingers, content to just lie there for a while longer.

"Ok, so your arms aren't broken. Move your feet." He glanced at her legs expectantly.

She shuffled her feet against the pebbly grass. Hopefully he'd just leave her alone now.

"I think you're fine, but I don't know a lot about human physiology." He tried to help her to her feet.

"Leave me alone!" She snapped, pushing his hand away again. Immediately she regretted yelling at him for just trying to be helpful. Quickly, in a more gentle voice, she amended, "I just need a few moments to rest."

He moved from a crouched position to sitting beside her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, feeling as if she had let him down in some way. She wasn't strong or tireless like he was. Selendrile picked at a leaf from the ground and began twirling it between his fingers. She turned her head to the side in order to watch him. He effortlessly looked human now, his back curved as he hunched over the object in his hand. Her heart wanted to break. It was as if she had domesticated a beautiful wild animal, and in doing so had made it exactly like the rest.

"I'll make a deal with you." He leaned closer, as if this was the latest conspiracy in the game of revenge they had been playing. "I promise not to eat humans if you promise to tell me when something is wrong. I want to know if you're tired, or hungry, or cold, or hurt, or if you need to go to the latrine."

She shook her head at the last one. Relieving herself was one of the things they shouldn't talk about.

"I mean it Alys," Selendrile warned. "I don't want you suffering in silence anymore just because you don't want to displease me."

"But I…" She tried to protest, knowing it didn't matter because he had already won the argument.

"Are you ready to leave yet?" He interrupted, trying not to sound impatient.

She knew he wasn't impatient with her, but because the sun was going to rise soon. She was about to reply 'yes', but then realized it wasn't the truth, only what she thought he wanted to hear. "Give me a few more minutes," she replied, showing that she was accepting his deal. She fell asleep shortly after.

An hour later, she woke up in an abandoned barn with a slumbering dragon taking up a good deal of space. Sunlight was poking its way through cracks in the wood and the interior seemed even colder than it had outdoors. She couldn't remember getting here. It was impossible for Selendrile to turn into a dragon and then pick her up without jarring her awake, and yet he had somehow gotten the two of them under a shelter. Alys wondered if he had carried her in human form. Her blanket was spread over her shoulders, and she knew he could only do that as a man. With bleary eyes, she stared at the dragon and wondered why he hadn't woken her. It would have been far easier for him. She grabbed her blanket and crawled towards him, snuggling against his warm side. Hopefully he wouldn't move and accidentally crush her.

If he asked, she could just tell him she had rolled over in her sleep.

©RelenaFanel2006

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This fic is dedicated to all those people who have asked me to write a Dragon's Bait fanfiction over the years. I just received the book for Christmas, and almost immediately, this fanfiction popped to mind.Should I continue it?

Give me a shout, everyone. I would love to hear from you.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again Alys and Selendrile were walking along darkened paths and well-worn roads in the middle of the night. They couldn't get horses to aid their journey and save weary feet because of the animals' restless reaction to her dragon companion, and Selendrile himself, the fey-righteous bugger, still refused to turn into his regular form and fly the two of them to his desired destination. Alys kicked the pebbly road in frustration; she barely understood his reasoning behind the adamant refusal to partake in anything that gave him an unfair advantage over his human kin, but somehow she appreciated the nobleness of the gesture. At least, tonight as they trudged along the country-side, they weren't in a pitch-black forest.

The stars and the reflective moon were the only source of light illuminating her companion, and yet his skin seemed to glow in the night with an ethereal quality. If she hadn't known his true nature, she might have assumed he was a ghost, haunting the fields and roads as he searched for his missing love. Or, rather, since ghost stories about young men never really delved into the realm of romance, he would likely be a victim of murder, searching for his killer. Alys shivered, glancing around the chilled night with goosebumps emerging along her skin. It was likely the overhead constellations were creating the same effect on her skin as they were on his, but there was just something about the air, and the confident way Selendrile held himself as if he were impermeable, that gave him an other-worldly appearance. Sometimes, he could spook her without even trying.

"We could always get a cart." She broke the silence with her musing, looking at the man beside her with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She wondered if he could see the blatant amusement she was trying to convey, or sense the unreasonable unease flowing through her mind.

"A cart?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Without an animal to pull it?"

Oh, he walked right into her trap on that one. For a second, she didn't know which of the multiple answers flitting through her mind would be the most appropriate. "You could turn into an ass." Before he could reply, she skittered away and faced him boldly from a few feet away. Despite her motions being unconscious, it was a typical teasing manner, parlaying without words exactly where the conversation was going. "No, wait!" She grinned. "You already are one!"

Selendrile growled.

Alys giggled and bolted down the road as he teasingly lunged for her. The chase was on. She knew he could easily catch up with her, but after a moment of running, she realized he was playing the game. Quickly, she ran along the grassy center of the road, between the ruts caused by wagon wheels. Once, when she was about seven, one of the boys in her village had gotten his foot caught in a hole on the road and broke his ankle. He hadn't been able to walk without a limp after that. She made sure she was careful to avoid the ruts on either side of her, but it was a futile task during the light of day, let along at this time of night. She risked a peek over her shoulder at the predator giving chase, laughter bubbling through the crisp evening air. Selendrile was still slightly behind her, but he had narrowed the distance considerably in a short time. Swiftly, he leapt to the left shoulder of the road, and in the blink of an eye, he narrowed the gap between them, running effortlessly beside her. Alys could feel her energy waning, and her breath was tight in her throat, and yet Selendrile seemed to be unaffected by their little jaunt. Darn him.

Nimbly, she jumped to the opposite shoulder of the road. She wasn't free of his grasp yet, but it would be much more of a feat for him to reach her across the full road than half of it. If she hadn't been out of breath from the few moments of physical activity, she would have stuck her tongue out childishly. She wasn't sure if she was getting in touch with her youthful side, or if she was flirting with him. Suddenly, she stopped short, gasping to catch her breath. Selendrile stilled, standing across from her as if he hadn't just run a marathon. She felt like sticking out her tongue at him again, but the idea that it was less than innocent made her check the urge. She couldn't flirt with Selendrile; he wasn't human. He was becoming more and more like a brother to her every day. Conveniently, her mind forgot about the time she had quickly kissed him.

Straightening her back, she focused on the scenery instead of her companion. On either side of her were sloping fields of wheat. During the day, the land would stretch for miles, but in the dark she could only sense the vastness of empty space in the distance. Beneath the moon, the ends of the plants swayed and rippled from a chilling breeze, emulating waves on the sea. Alys shivered, wishing she wasn't constantly freezing on this adventure with a dragon. The running she had just done warmed her body briefly, but now the warmth generating was quickly ebbing and she was colder than she had been before.

Alys turned from the fields to look at Selendrile, hoping he was ready to call it a night or at least willing to steal another sweater for her. Before she could complain about the cold, a campfire flared. The flames were close enough to reflect off Alys' pale face. Her mouth barely had time to open in shock. Thankfully, Selendrile was quicker witted than she was. He launched himself at her with inhuman speed, making sure he landed first when they hit ground and rolled into a grassy ditch. Alys wheezed in shock. Selendrile clamped his hand over her mouth and edged over so that he was lying directly on top of her. Beneath his fingers, she wheezed again. Geez, so much for the notion that it would be harder for him to reach her from across the road.

"D'ya see that?" A rough voice growled from between the fire and where the two of them laid tangled on the damp ground. The silhouette of the man made him look exactly like his voice, coarse and gigantic. Alys could feel her heartbeat speed up in fright. Earlier, the easy terror she had experienced had come from her imagination, and it felt far more haunting and yet less tangible than the fear she felt now. Somehow, whether it be Selendrile's reaction, or the dangerous waves the man was sending off, she knew they were in trouble. The man took a step towards them and stopped, scanning the area with war-sharpened eyes. He was so close; the thought flittered through Alys mind that she could probably spit on his foot and she could feel a hysterical laughter emerging from her chest. Luckily, Selendrile picked that moment to press his hand harder against her mouth until she could feel her lips and cheeks between her teeth.

"Twas probably a deer," A second man dismissed. He slouched beside the fire and began scraping a crude steel sword with a rock. "You're just jumpy 'cause that wench almost stuck you with that knife while you were stickin' it to her."

Selendrile reflexively covered her with his body, ensuring that she was completely out of sight. Alys was thankful he was so protective of her. With one hand, he dug his fingers into the damp earth and smeared mud on the exposed skin of their faces. She let him put the cool, slimy dirt over her without moving, hoping his actions meant he had a plan to escape this predicament. She couldn't figure out how they had gotten so close to other travelers without realizing it.

"Took care of that whore," the first man muttered, trying to redeem his rapist image. He turned away from his perusal of empty fields and occupied ditches to join his companion by the fire. He took a swig from a large flagon and sighed happily as the harsh alcoholic liquid burned down his throat and settled into the blood. Within minutes, he was snoring beside the warm campfire.

Alys was somewhat envious. Her back was immersed in an inch of freezing water and the only source of warmth she could feel was from Selendrile's body against hers. She could feel the shivers running up and down her spine from the cold, and was positive he could feel them too. After a violent spasm, he frowned at her and pushed a finger between her lips to stop the sound of chattering teeth. He jumped as she clamped down on the digit. Alys tried to apologize through her eyes, but she had never been very good at reading or portraying emotion in the "mirrors of the soul", so she could only hope he got the message.

It seemed to take hours before the two men were asleep. Alys could feel the shallow water surrounding her crisp with autumn frost. Her hair, where it floated amidst the grass, felt as if it were frozen in place. She was so cold now, she was beyond the point of shivering. The warmth of Selendrile's solid chest had long since dwindled while pushing her body into the quagmire, even as his arm kept her head above the mud. He might be the only reason she was alive at the moment.

"We have to move quickly," he whispered, slowly pulling his finger out of her mouth as if testing to see if her teeth would begin traitorously chattering again. His warm breath caressed her skin as he exhaled sharply. His head loomed above her, cutting off the sight of the clear night sky; he was staring at her with those unfathomable eyes she could never hope to read even in the light of day. "Are you all right?"

She didn't answer his question. Even if she knew the answer, she didn't think she could speak or even nod her head. Everything felt numb. She couldn't remember ever being this cold before; during particularly freezing winters ay home, her father had always closed off the area around the fire in order to keep in the heat. More than anything, she wanted to sleep, or just give in, but she knew it didn't really matter how she felt, she had to be fine in order for the two of them to get out of this mess. She could do it. She was strong for a girl her age.

Selendrile didn't push her for an answer. He probably already knew everything that was going through her mind. "Start crawling into the fields. I'll be right behind you." He quickly jumped off her, crouching like a predator at her side. She hadn't realized how much heat he was lending her until she was bereft of it. Gently, he leaned over and curled a hand between her shoulder and the ground, helping her roll over. She plopped from the ditch with a sound between a belly-flop dive and a kiss. They both froze for a second, waiting to see if the noise would wake one of the bandits. Selendrile cautiously looked over his shoulder to watch the campsite as he urged Alys onward.

Alys could barely feel her limbs. Her entire body felt lethargic and dream-like. She managed to put one arm and leg in motion and dragged herself a few feet before collapsing. Barely, she kept herself from whimpering in pain, exhaustion, and fear. She wanted to get up again; Selendrile needed her to get up again. The best she could do was keep her eyes open, each blink taking longer than the previous. God, she was so sleepy. Selendrile wouldn't mind if she slept for a bit, would he?

"Alys!" He hissed, shockingly close. Selendrile's whisper was so quiet, she could barely hear it. Or maybe she was just that far into dreamland. He gently pressed his hand against her cheek, nudging her into alertness. His hand was probably freezing, but it felt life a ray of sun on a hot day compared to her own skin.

"Cold," she murmured, eyes fluttering open with effort. Why was he frowning at her? He looked worried. Why was he worried? Why, she wondered, her brain sighing as she blinked at him. Nothing bad would happen to her with him around, but there was something at the fringes of her weary brain that she wasn't quite seeing clearly. Some piece of knowledge was nagging at her, and she knew she had to snap out of the haze she was in, but it felt so comforting. Maybe if she slept for a while, everything would be clearer; once again her body commanded for sleep. "Tired." She explained to him, closing her eyes.

"Stay awake," Selendrile growled, muttering a word she hadn't realized he knew. She was still aware enough to hear a slight shuffling sound. He sounded angry now, she thought from the brink of consciousness. Selendrile killed when he was angry, her brain pieced together. The thought was comforting rather than frightening. "You once told me about people in your village who died from a sickness. Do you want to die like they did?" Selendrile's voice was menacing; as if he could kill her himself.

Alys's eyes flew open at his threat, not from fear but from the shock of what he said. It took a moment for them to focus, but once they did she immediately slammed them shut again, more from modesty than exhaustion. How could she even think about sleeping now that he was half naked a few feet away?

"Look at me," he commanded. His voice was forceful, but it was also back to the gentle, friendly tone she was used to. "I want to make sure you're awake."

She managed to fully open one eye, the other was half squinting. Selendrile had already taken off his shirt, and was reaching for his pants. In the moonlight, his pale skin gleamed like fresh snow in the night. The campfire, still too close for comfort, cast dark shadows and burning orange across the side facing it. Alys was mesmerized.

Selendrile caught her gaze and smirked, dropping the pants. Alys squeaked and brought her hand up to cover her eyes as he tossed the clothes at her. Alys jumped as the wet material smacked against her arm and face.

He snorted in amusement, the air around him shifting as his pale skin became golden scales and the sound of amusement became the bellow of a dragon.

The men in the camp were now awake and scrambling away as quickly as they could run. Selendrile growled threatening and Alys could feel the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the sheer decibels and danger of his calls.

Selendrile spread his long wings, flexing the strong muscles in his shoulders once, as if to shake out any stiffness being confined to humanity may have caused. The wild grass around him swayed and bent as he shoved off from the ground with a powerful stroke and soared after the men taking flight.

Alys could see him turn over-head. Gaining momentum, the dragon dove directly at her, obviously not planning to stop. She tensed, unable to help her fearful reaction despite her heart knowing she'd be safe. Selendrile's sharp hind claws pierced the ground around her, and in the blink of an eye she found herself cradled between his talons and the warm fleshy palm of his hand.

Finally, safe and secure in a place of human terror, Alys fell asleep.

©RelenaFanel2006

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Well, this has had minimal editing. I really don't like posting things without going over it more than once, but too many complications have shown up to halt the progress of this fic (including no longer having a computer).

Thanks to my Chapter 1 reviewers: This is the first time I've tried personal responses… tell me what you think of me making it a habit.

**Ellen Jacee: **Yeah, the book is an anomaly, but that's probably why it's so good. Vivian Vande Velde is an amazing author. I can't go on enough about how much I love her Companions of the Night. As for my story, yes, I do have a plot. I'm glad you got so much out of one quickly written chapter. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

**Dragon Princess**: Is this chapter long enough? No? Oh well, too bad. Maybe next time. :D

**SarahE7191:** The level of cuteness is likely to go up. It seems like after I read a good book I always need to know what happens next. I guess it has to do with becoming one with the characters as you read it. Or it could be the hotness of Selendrile. :shrugs:

**Kell-Bell:** Yeah, there aren't many fanfiction for any of Vivian Vande Velde's books. Dragon's Bait seems to have a following for people rewriting the story using Japanese Anime characters. As a fan of anime myself, I don't really have a problem with that. I only wish more people would write for the actual Dragon's Bait.

**LugiaTsuyu**: Well, I'm continuing it as quickly as I can, but as I said, I'm having some computer troubles. Trouble being I no longer have one. Well, that isn't true, but the RAM in mine is dead and I've already waited 2 weeks for the new one to arrive. Anyway, hopefully this is quickly enough (it didn't take me TWO months after all).

**Cokkii:** I want to know what happens at the end of the book too! LOL. Wait no longer, here is your update. I also hope I don't let down and disappoint.

**Mirella**: I already have chapter 3 mostly written on paper. So I'll be continuing up to that point. After that, I'm not sure.

**Inu Anime Girl**: Inu as in Inuyasha? I love Inuyasha! I really love the book too. :inserts more plugs about Companions of the Night as well:

**Phoebe Holly**: How soon is soon? Is a month soon::looks sheepish: I guess I didn't update soon. I hope later is better than never in this case!

**Impashence**: Oh, you should definitely write a story of your own, even if it is in competition to mine (that means nothing, I just tend to think of everything as a competition. It isn't like I would pop up and be like "I WIN!"). Let me know and I'll put it on my Vivian Vande Velde C2!

Whoa… that was surprisingly difficult. I'm not that good at conversations even in real life. I'm sorry if I insulted or misconstrued one of your comments. Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

Ok, here is a question… Is there any UST in this chapter, and if so, where?


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Alys groaned and her sore throat protested the vibrations sent through it. One eye squinted open to see a rush of pulsating walls and flickering flames; immediately she scrunched her eyes closed and tried to make sense of what she had seen.

"You're awake." Selendrile's statement cut through her groggy dizziness. He wasn't asking a question or making a statement; it was just his way of greeting her back from sleep.

Alys tried to nod her head in answer, but it lolled bonelessly to the side. Promptly, her body jerked into an involuntary motion, moving her into the air for a fraction of an inch before firmly coming to a rest. Despite the strange lights and disorienting images she had seen the last time she looked, Alys's eyes flew open. She found herself wedged in Selendrile's arms. Somehow he was carrying a torch and walking through a darkened cave as he carried her. The air surrounding them was warm, almost mimicking the consistency of a sweltry summer day. It hit her frozen skin, causing her damp body to become clammy. She resisted the urge to touch her forehead, worried that moving would disrupt Selendrile's fragile balance of her weight and the fire. She was sure her face would feel the same her father's had during the particularly bad stages of fever, and her stomach coiled at the idea of getting sick and dying a prolonged death like he had.

She coughed weakly- a self-fulfilling prophesy instead of real sickness.

"Its ok," Selendrile soothed. If he had a free hand he probably would have given her a comforting touch like a back rub or shoulder pat. "We'll be there shortly."

"Hmmm?" She grunted, the energy she had built up during her brief nap waning every second she remained awake. She let her eyes drift shut; the dancing flames were hurting her eyes and she just couldn't be bothered to look anymore.

"No!" Selendrile snapped, once again jarring her whole body as he shifted her deliberately. "Don't go to sleep yet."

After she settled back into his arms, she ignored him, feeling her limbs tingle numbly from the cold, and beckoning sleep.

"Alys!" He sounded frustrated, and maybe a little bit worried. "If you go back to sleep you might never wake up," he warned. "Hypothermia isn't something to mess with."

Seledrile worried? What was he saying? Her brain was incredibly fuzzy, but she didn't think 'hypothemia' was a word she had ever heard before. For someone who was just learning humanity, Selendrile knew a lot more than anyone else she had ever met. Because it wasn't often she heard him apprehensive about something and because he was now walking with jarring haste instead his normal grace, she made the effort to keep her eyes open. Despite the mysterious heat surrounding her, she was still overwhelmingly chilled. Where was he taking her? How was he able to carry both a human and a torch with such ease?

Why did he look so much prettier than her in the light of the fire? It wasn't fair. He was supposed to be the ugly dragon. He was also supposed to be the male. It didn't make sense for his hair to be so long and soft looking, like spun gold from a fairy-tale. Alys almost giggled. Maybe he would let her comb it later.

Selendrile stopped, sweeping his torch-filled arm out in a dramatic arch before letting it clatter to the ground. The fire sputtered and sizzled upon contact, instantly becoming dim but not extinguishing completely. The motion dislodged her precarious balance, and for the first time since she woke up, she moved deliberately and clasped her arms tightly around his neck. Gently, he lowered her to the ground and made sure she was comfortably positioned on the hard rocks before completely letting go. Alys felt her body slump bonelessly to the floor of the cave. She wasn't sure she'd be able to roll over if she needed to.

Selendrile reached for her foot and pulled off a boot. Cold ditch water poured from the sewn leather and splashed on the ground. He pulled off the second of the pair with much of the same action. He shifted away from her bottom half and slipped his arm beneath her shoulders. Instead of picking her up off the floor like she expected, he supported her weight until she was leaning against him in a sitting position. With one hand, he slid his hand along her stomach until his fingers curled around the bottom of her sodden wool sweater. "You know, wet wool sticks to ice," he told her, his words distracting her and keeping her attention on the sound of his voice instead of what he was doing with his hands. "It would help if you ever fell through a frozen river or lake or something. I guess in this case it was useless." He finished pulling her sweater off. She had barely noticed the movements of him shifting her to navigate the limbs and head. He threw the clothes over his shoulder. They landed with a squelching sound deeper into the cave.

Alys shivered. The shirt hadn't been keeping her warm, but it had been covering her dampened skin. Without it, she was as good as naked. Testament to Selendrile's skill at divesting women of clothing, she still had her shift on; it had probably been clinging to the wool as much as it was adhering to her skin. Alys resisted the urge to cover her body with her arms, mostly because she didn't have the energy to move or care.

Selendrile surveyed her, pondering her form, and then took his own boots off. He gathered her back into his arms, leaving her pants and thin undershirt in place and took a step on the rocks with bare feet. He took one final step and then pushed off with strong leg muscles in a shocking leap. Was he going to turn into a dragon? Was he trying to kill them both? Was he insane?

Alys heard the splash of Selendrile's lower body a split second before water enveloped her in a heated embrace. It was shockingly warm. She floundered, scared of drowning, but found Selendrile already had her face out of the water. He was supporting her body so that she floated, and at the moment he was shifting her hair out from under her so that it trailed reddened brown waves behind her. She hadn't felt this overwhelming sense of penetrating heat since the sunny days and muggy evenings of the summer. She had never been in water that felt like this. People in her town never got wet during the winter. It was almost sure death. Since she had already gotten the chill, this couldn't harm her moreso, could it?

"It isn't wise to swim this close to winter," she spoke her fears as best she could without really telling him her concerns. His hand rubbing soothing circles at the base of her skull was relaxing, and she still couldn't concentrate but she could feel her strength returning.

"That's why humans smell." He replied, slowly letting go of her.

"Hey!" She replied indignantly for both the insult and leaving her to drown. Flailing in the water, she could feel herself sinking. He shoved his hand under her shoulder, propelling her to her feet. She easily stood, finding the water to only reach her neck. "Funny," she said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest beneath the water and took a step away from him.

His lips curled slightly on one side as he smirked at her. Selendrile quickly pulled his shirt off over his head and started to wring it out into the water before he threw it over the ledge in the direction her own shirt had gone. Alys shied away, turning her head to give him privacy. "Are you turning into a dragon?" She inquired. He paused, hands going towards taking off his pants.

"No. Why?" He questioned, not seeing the inappropriateness of undressing.

"Because," Alys stuttered. "Because... why are you taking your clothes off?"

"They're wet and need to dry." He stared at her in the dim light. "Why don't you want me to?"

Alys almost squeaked, trying to voice what was going through her mind. At least she was no longer frozen and unable to think and move. Selendrile being in the room as she was and both in a state of undress was something her dad had always warned her about. "It's wrong," she muttered.

"Wrong?" He frowned, confused by her reasoning. "You care far too much for your modesty."

"And you don't care enough about yours!" She shot back.

Selendrile paused, going still in the large pool of water. His eyebrows were still drawn together in a frown and he bit her lip in a nervous human habit he may have picked up from her. "Alys... There is something I think you need to understand." He actually fidgeted, looking uncomfortable for the first time as far as she'd seen. "A dragon can't desire a human like that. It would be like a..." He cut off.

Like? She tried valiantly not to look uncomfortable. Had she brought this conversation on herself? She hadn't really been thinking about sex, only the inappropriateness of his constant undressing. "Like a?" She urged.

"You don't want to hear the analogy."

"Of course I want to hear the analogy," Alys replied. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to hear anything he had to say, but maybe it would take away from the awkwardness she was feeling. Deep down, she knew it would get worse, but at least they would be covering it with words. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to portray anger. It might have been more effective if she actually had to move her arms. As it was, she was doing poorly at convincing him it didn't matter. A pause. "What's an analogy?"

"A comparison," he explained as if she were a silly little girl. She was feeling it at the moment.

A longer pause.

"Well?" She urged, becoming impatient at his reluctance to speak what was on his mind.

"Me and you," Selendrile cut himself off with a cringe, sweeping his long blond hair back before trying again. "A dragon and a human having sex would be like... a horse and a pig. Its just..." he trailed off.

"Wrong." She supplied, heart racing as she tried to control the blush running along her features at his blunt words. Her mind was screaming. She KNEW he wasn't human, but times like this when he reminded her were still surprising. When Selendrile looked like a human, moved like a human, and spoke, for the most part, like a very intelligent human, her brain got confused. She might not have been thinking of him as mate material, but it was undeniable that he was attractive. Good job he explained it to her now, or she might have developed a crush on him. The news was a relief. Really, it was. She no longer had to worry about him undressing in front of her either.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, putting on false indignance and summoning a weak smile. "Are you calling me a pig?"

"Noooooo."

Relief. Right? Then why was she feeling the urge to cry? Why was she a tad disappointed? Quickly, she pushed those thoughts away, glaring at him suspiciously. She tried to keep a smirk off her face. The nearby torch flickered, throwing shadows across his skin and Alys wondered when the last time she had seen him in solid light had been. Had she ever? Finally, after a moment of staring, she let her lips curled and bowed her head. What happened now? Would he tell her this arrangement wasn't working out if they had to have conversations like this? Would he drop her off at the nearest village, never to be seen again?

At some point during her musings, he managed to take off his pants. He wrung them out as well and flung them to the side before she noticed.

"Ack!" She turned her back on him. "We talked. I'm still not comfortable with this."

"Fine!" He snapped, causing her to turn around to judge the level of his anger. In return he assessed her for a few moments. Before Alys was able to get suitable uncomfortable with the lack of speech and movement, Selendrile dove for the ledge of the underground lake and vaulted out of the murky water. Alys didn't even have time to avert her eyes before he elongated, bulked, and scaled. Every time she saw the seamless transition between human and dragon, she always expected it to be a lot worse. Where was the grinding of bones, stretching of fragile skin, and screams of pain? She didn't wish any of that on Selendrile, of course, but her brain couldn't equate what she saw and what she didn't hear over reality.

Bless magic.

In human form, Selendrile would have nimbly landed on the ground, but as a dragon he shook the entire mountain with the weight of his body landing on the cave floor. A dangerous rumble echoed through the enclosed space and Alys shrieked, throwing her arms over her head in a vain attempt to protect herself from the vibrating stalactites barely visible on the ceiling. One of the larger hanging rocks crumbled further into the cave, the chair-sized boulders smacking wickedly into the water.

As quickly as the thunderous noise started, it came to a quivering halt. Alys let out a shaky breath, glancing overhead warily as she began to wade towards the shore. Selendrile, who had been watching carefully to ensure she wasn't in peril of being flattened by huge falling rocks, turned his back on her to give her privacy. Shivering post-fear, elevated levels of adrenaline still quaking through her veins, Alys managed to slide out of the water before the overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit her limbs and mind. Glancing over at her companion, she noted his breathing was even as if he were already asleep. She didn't need to curl up beside him tonight, but she did so more out of habit and a lonely need for companionship than from the cold. This time of year, she should have frozen during her sleep with her wet hair and clothing, but the warm air from the springs cradled her, keeping her warmer than she would be outside, if still slightly damp.

©RelenaFanel2006

Author's Note:

Greetings to my loyal readers,

Thanks so much for the reviews all of you left! This chapter is dedicated to you.


	4. Chapter 4

_To Lure A Dragon_

Chapter 4

"Hey," she smiled weakly at Selendrile as he raised his head from where a dragon had been resting peacefully, baring a few ground-trembling snores, seconds before. "Have a good sleep?" Alys tried to keep her voice gentle, like a mother might to for an infant child or human prey would in the face of a growling wolf.

He shrugged, grabbing his pants and jerking his legs into the covering. His motions were rather violent, as if something had upset the equitable peace he usually portrayed.

"Are you angry at me?" She asked, voice tiny in an attempt to sound meek and contrite. She was huddled against the stony wall of the cave, knees drawn to her chin. She was wearing his shirt because it had dried quicker than hers had for some reason. She just didn't want them to fight anymore, but she supposed it was a good thing he was immediately pulling on his pants, right? That meant she had won in some small part.

He looked exasperated for a moment. "No," he finally replied, "what happened to the girl who threw a rock at a dragon to get his attention?"

"She's hungry!" Alys shot back, shifting her feet against the rocky ground. She had her boots back on and could still feel damp places squish beneath her toes.

Selendrile's lips pressed into a thin line and his eyebrows frowned. "Continuously feeding you isn't helping. You need to be able to forage for yourself."

Yeesh. Someone was grumpy this evening. He must have woken up on the wrong side of the bedrock. "I don't know how to get out of here." She stood up, walking towards him and ignoring his standoffish stance. "Besides, stealing stew from some poor family isn't foraging. It's just stealing."

"It's food you wouldn't have otherwise." Selendrile growled, stalking into the depths of the cavern before pausing impatiently just within her sight. "Are you coming?"

Alys smothered a grin and followed. He lead her through tunnels and turns in the rock until she was hopelessly lost. Finally, they emerged into the chilly air of the night at the base of the mountain.

"Good luck," Selendrile gave her a slight push towards a nearby forest.

"What?" Alys questioned in a daze. Either she was still disoriented from the cave, or he really meant for her to go search out her own food. No, he couldn't possibly.

"Find your own food," he growled.

That didn't leave much room for misinterpretation. "Fine!" Alys retorted, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at him. He looked unmoved. She had never been very good at intimidating people with a single cold gaze of her eyes; perhaps she was too small and cute for that. "Point me in the direction of a town and I'll pilfer me up the best stew you ever tasted! If you ask nicely I might even bring you back a nice hunk of raw meat." Sure, she was mocking and antagonizing him, but only a little.

"There are no towns around here," he sneered. "Go do the human survival thing. How do you think your species didn't die out a long time ago?"

"Through no lack of trying on the Dragon's part, I'm sure," she retorted, tapping her foot on the ground quickly to match her level of irritation. He had to be angry with her. She could see no other reason for him being this grumpy. Finally, she conceded. She might be stubborn, but she was also human. The chilly air was rapidly turning her still-damp clothes into icicles and she was already freezing. The quicker she found some roots or something to make into a meal, the sooner she could get back into the warmth of the cave. "If I eat a poisonous berry, I'm haunting you," she muttered, giving him another glare for good measure. Haughtily, because the situation demanded some sort of dramatic act and she wasn't up to speed on rude gestures, she flicked her hair off her shoulder as she turned and stomped away on the frozen ground. Snow was going to fall any day now.

"Don't eat anything until I inspect it." Seledrile called after her. He sounded worried. Good. He should. She had grown up in the middle of a town where neighbours helped out neighbours, and no one went hungry. In the past year, she had relied on the kindness of those people more than not. Alys doubted she'd be able to tell the difference between a blueberry and hazelnut bush in the wild, despite the fact she had picked the treats off both on many occasions.

"Come with me then," she tried to appeal to his normally nice nature, but when she turned around to give him the hopeful-puppy-dog eyes, he was already gone. "Stupid dragon powers," she muttered, kicking a rotted log. Anger was good. Didn't he know what he was doing to her? She had to keep focusing on being angry at the annoying dragon. Why did he leave her alone? Anger wasn't fear. She wasn't scared. She wasn't scared of Selendrile leaving her alone like her father had to find a way to survive in the world.

Oh God, she was terrified. Alys had to pause, bracing her hand against the thick trunk of a sturdy tree as she concentrated on breathing. Selendrile had only sent her to find food. He hadn't left forever. Right? She could do this. She wasn't alone in the world, only alone right now. There was a difference, but right now with no father and no helpful dragon, she felt an overwhelming panic at the loss of Selendrile's protection. She couldn't do this. Surely, after a few days of not eating, Selendrile wouldn't just watch her starve to death.

No, no. He was right. What happened to the girl who threw a rock at a dragon to get his attention? She was stronger than the girl leaning against a tree feeling sorry for herself. She could find something edible in a forest. Rabbits and deer did it all the time. "Don't be a baby," she muttered to herself, straightening away from the tree and taking a step further into the woods. It was so incredibly dark, but the almost-full moon overhead lent brief streams of light through the bare tree branches. The ground was rife with fallen leaves, and she shuffled through them, trying to bring back childish memories of playing during the autumn to aid her courage. She futilely scanned the remaining foliage for something edible.

"Alysssssss," a breeze fluttered the dead leaves on the ground, giggling her name. She jumped, twirling around, terrified but at the same time trying to justify the sound as her imagination. There was nothing. It had to be all in her head. She was scared and alone; it was enough to make anyone start hearing things. The air calling her name? Ridiculous.

"Alys," the wind sang.

Alys paused, keeping as deathly still as a living person possibly can as she tried to calm her racing heart. She was almost convinced she was actually hearing something this time. When she was six, she and Risa had hidden in the forest and scared one of the elderly men in her village. The woods behind her house were still considered haunted. Maybe Selendrile was trying a bit of trickery? Almost immediately she dismissed that idea.

"Hello?" Alys called, feeling ridiculous for answering.

She could still hear giggling.

Alys pushed through bushes and found herself in a slight clearing. It was about as large as the kitchen in her house had been, and she wouldn't even had noted it as a clearing if the trees hadn't been so close-knit in this section of the woods. The ground of the defoliated circle was covered with edible delicacies, the likes of which Alys could never imagine in her hungriest dreams.

"Welcome Alys." A tiny figure floated from a plate of chocolate cookies and wiped her mouth on the back of her wrist sheepishly. "I don't mean to sound all spooky and stalkerish, but I hear you're hungry" the miniature woman chirped, her multi-coloured wings blurring into a rainbowed haze behind her.

Had Selendrile arranged this? Alys hesitated. It was a sweet gesture on his part, but despite the fact it was more within his character to provide for her than send her out on her own, for some reason Alys couldn't see him setting this up. His character was more apt to be straightforward and then casually brush off her thanks. Alys knelt on the ground, knees inches from a plate of pale granules. She couldn't help but be wary of magic, as she had been raised to be frightened of all the fey. "Do you know Selendrile?" She asked, mouth watering to dive into the feast and eat until she couldn't move her jaw.

The fairy hovered, nodding cheerfully. "Eat," she urged, voice small and saccharine.

"Are you sure it's ok?" Alys questioned. Even if humans were terrified of the fey, this creature did not seem to be the horrible monster of myth. Just like Selendrile didn't fit all the terrifying stereotypes of a dragon she had grown up hearing.

"Of course," the fairy bobbled, nodding her whole body along with her head.

Alys picked up the nearest plate. "What is this?" She poked the clumps with a spoon.

"Rice," the diminutive being squeaked.

"Rice." Alys repeated, trying to memorize the name. She took a bite and was instantly disappointed. She had expected everything to taste like heaven, but this rice stuff tasted like little more than water.

"Try this on top." The fairy helpfully flittered around a pitcher of thick sauce. Alys poured a dabble on her rice and tried again. "Good?" The fey flew over to the other side of the clearing, hovering over a plate dark brown cookies and gesturing to them, "enough of the healthy food. Try this."

Alys made her way around the plates and dishes of delectables and picked up one of the brown tablets. It was still warm and gooey, smelling both sweet and bitter at once. "What is it?"

The fairy looked at her with pity. "You've never had chocolate? Poor dear. Eat! Eat!"

Alys took a bite, no longer cautious to her companion's urging. The base of the cookie was moist in her mouth and as she chewed it, she could feel the chocolate chunks melting between her teeth. The dark sweetness coated her mouth and throat until all she could taste and sense was the chocolate. Alys slid her tongue over the roof of her mouth, trying to swallow every last cloying bit before taking another bite. She nearly vocalized her pleasure at the tempting and novel new taste.

"What are you doing?" Selendrile hissed menacingly from behind her left ear.

Alys started, blushing guiltily as she swallowed her second bite of the cookie. Surreptitiously, she tried to suck the leftovers from between her teeth before opening her mouth to answer him.

"You aren't getting her," he continued, voice more threatening than anything she had ever heard from his mouth. This was the man who had killed with his bare hands as an iron chain was burning the skin off his arms.

The fairy giggled again, flouncing in front of Alys's eyes. "I already have her. She willingly ate the food I offered." A pleasantly adorable giggle. "Your little friend belongs to me." The giggling stopped, and the fairy seemed to grow in magnitude just by adopting a serious face.

"I claimed her first." Selendrile finally stepped forward, into her line of sight. His shoulder brushed against her arm, and Alys felt herself unwillingly flinch away from him. Her arm burned from where he made contact. She watched, wide-eyed as he clenched his fist and stared challengingly at the fairy. "She didn't know you were trying to trick her!"

"You know our laws. Knowledge is no excuse. How do you think we'd get any new members if everyone could just whine 'I didn't knoooooooooooow'?" The fairy crossed her arms over her chest, challenging Selendrile with equally non-human eyes. "Come Alys," she beckoned with one hand, the fingers curling with strings of fey magic, pulling the human towards her into the circle.

Alys tried to resist. She wanted to stay with Selendrile and knew if her body obeyed the summons, she'd lose her humanity forever. On a more conscious level, she didn't want to take a step into the clearing and tread on the food. It would be a waste of all those goodies that she could eat later. Selendrile and gluttony were both sinful delights she wasn't willing to forsake.

"I'm sorry," she turned to her dragon companion, wincing at the golden light emanating from his false form. She could see the power simmering from the confines he had set himself in, almost as if his spirit was too large to be contained within a slight human body, and she knew then that despite her reluctance to join the fairy in the center of the clearing, that she was being changed into a fairy against her will. "She said she knew you," Alys cried, watching in dismay as Selendrile the human grew in size. She was shrinking, the changes in her stature throwing sharp tingles throughout the muscles in her body.

Was this what Selendrile felt every time he changed, she wondered, barely keeping from screaming in pain.

"Stop!" Selendrile bellowed, the sheer volume of his voice contesting any noise he could make as a dragon. He grabbed her shrinking arm, halting the process with his iron-like grip. His fingers burned her skin in ways she couldn't understand. The fire spread over her skin, itching and blazing everything down to her bones. Alys wheezed, trying to breathe through the sickening smoke surely enveloping her body. "She asked if you knew me?" Alys's savior and tormentor asked the fairy.

The fairy paused, staring steadily at the two of them. Alys didn't notice Selendrile's demand for an answer; she was too far gone in her pain. She wanted to scream for him to let go of her arm. Let me change, she mentally begged him. Stop it!

"Yes," the fairy finally hissed her answer, no longer keeping up the pretence of cuteness and innocence.

"I would take that as her asserting my claim, wouldn't you?" His amethyst eyes blazed in fury as he challenged the other fey for his right of property. His hand squeezing Alys's arm was the only thing stopping her from falling to the ground.

"I didn't know who this 'Selendrile' was, my lord." The tiny creature demurred.

"Knowledge is no excuse," he mimicked, effortlessly tossing back the fairy law. "Or lack thereof. Turn her back now." Selendrile demanded, his voice and stature taking on qualities of the noble label she had just ascribed to him.

Alys screamed as the burning increased twofold, alighting pain on places she hadn't even known her body possessed. She fell, Selendrile's fingers bruising her arm as he tried to yank her upright reflexively. She grabbed at his fingers, trying to pry them off and pull them closer at the same time. "Oh God," she whimpered, resting her forehead on the cool moss of the forest floor. Selendrile knelt at her side so that they were both resting in a more comfortable position, but he never let go. Soon, he was no longer a giant holding her limb as if it were a twig, but a human touching the skin of another human. The burning eased, and Alys was able to breathe without wanting to die.

"What just…?" She glanced around the empty clearing quickly, taking in the lack of fairy as well as the lack of food cluttering the surface of the floor.

"Shhhh," he murmured, hands on either shoulder as he embraced her from behind. Alys was still kneeling, her body naturally rocking itself in comfort as she braced herself against the urge to vomit. Selendrile rubbed her upper arms, and pulled her hair out of her face instinctively. "I'm sorry." He placed a cool hand against the base of her neck. "I know how much it hurts. I'm sorry."

"When you change…?" Once against she wasn't able to finish the sentence. The pain was still too recent of a memory, and her stomach wanted to rebel against the magic she had consumed.

He knew what she was asking. Did he always feel that level of pain when he changed forms? "Yes. But I had to stop the process as I negotiated with her or it would have been irreversible. And I'm used to it."

She still felt sick. She focused on her breathing and the comforting circles he was rubbing on her right shoulder blade. "How can you be used to that?" She asked bitterly, finally able to finish a question.

He paused. "The seconds it takes me to change is nothing compared to the minute I just put you through." He fully knelt beside her, curling himself over her protectively so that his forehead was resting on the back of her head and his arms were carefully holding her around the waist. "I'm sorry," he whispered again. This time, she didn't think he was only apologizing for the situation she was just in, but for stubbornly putting her in the position in the first place; for abandoning her in a strange place to fend for herself. He stood up, gently pulling her along with him. He didn't wait for her to stumble ahead, just picked her up without asking if she could walk. She appreciated it.

Selendrile walked through the forest, taking seconds to effortlessly navigate where she had stumbled. "The next time you meet a fairy," he lectured sternly as she blinked at his clenched jaw. She hadn't realized he was still so upset. "Or any other fey, bow down and say 'we give our respect'. It is a formal greeting amidst one group of fey to another when we meet at a gathering, but it will do its job."

"We give our respect?" She questioned, repeating his phrase so as to commit it to memory. "What will it do?" They were now within the cave. Selendrile effortlessly found his way through the dark, his eyes seeing what a normal human could never dream of.

"It'll tell them that you already belong to one of them." He asserted, and for a moment she was sure he was holding her tighter against him. He stopped, and put her down on the ground. Instead of landing on hard rock, she found herself lying in a pool of furs covering a part of the cavern floor. She could tell from the soft texture between her fingers that they were good furs, expertly skinned and cured for bedding. He pulled one of the larger ones over her body. Alys still couldn't see, but she thought his lips might have hovered above her forehead as if to kiss her before he whispered, "sleep well, Alys. You've been through a lot tonight."

Just before she obeyed his demand, she realized he must have been bringing the bedding into the cave as she wandered through the forest. She knew he wasn't that callous. She drifted off to sleep, dreaming of chocolate.

©RelenaFanel2006

Hey everyone :waves: I hope you liked this brand new chapter. I'll see what I can do about getting the next one out in a couple of weeks. In other news, I bought a shirt with a dragon on it and am calling it my Selendrile shirt. Currently, Selendrile is curled up on my chest. Fun times.


	5. Chapter 5

_To Lure a Dragon_

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Apparently, they were now living within the cave he brought her that night when the surface of the world was frozen and the only reprieve was fleeing into the underground. The darkened tunnel was becoming a secondary home for Alys. In fact, the more-than-a-week, but less-than-two amount of time they had stayed here, cohabiting the space meant for bats and maybe a dragon but surely not a human, had been the longest time she had spent in one place that wasn't home. No, she didn't think of it as home, for home was with her father and she would never ever be home again. But maybe she might start thinking of home as living with Selendrile if she wasn't careful around him and the way he protected her, even as he threw her to the wolves. She wasn't sure she was ready to put so much faith in him. She had this feeling that everything with them would break and that they didn't have much time left together. 

The days went by, and Alys became more and more uncomfortable with the growing comfort in their situation.

"Selendrile?" She asked one night as they sat across the enclosed room, dispersed torches the only thing illuminating the air as they shimmered and shimmied against the rough rocky walls. He had explained to her that the smoke rose to the top of the high-ceilinged vault, and then escaped through holes they couldn't see from this angle and into the clean cold air of the mountainside. She didn't really understand the science behind his explanation, or the reason he thought it necessary to explain it to her, but she appreciated that he tried to educate her despite the fact she wasn't very learned in anything. It was a hopeless situation on his part.

"Hmmmm," he grunted, not looking up from the book on his lap. He easily flipped through the pages, committing the strange symbols which represented words to memory. Father Joseph had never read his bible that quickly, when he did take it out of the wooden box made to protect the fragile sheets.

She wanted to ask him if he would teach her to read sometime. She knew that the list of things he could do and she couldn't was long, and would likely take up a few pages of the precious velum pressed between the covers of his books, but she felt that this was within her control as opposed to the many physical inadequacies she couldn't correct because she was born human. She wanted to ask what the story he was reading was about, because every once and a while he would snort with laughter or derision at the flowery writing, and Father Joseph had never looked anything but serious while reading the bible. Alys hadn't even known there were other books besides the bible before a day ago, when she had woken to him throwing down a sturdy wooden chest to the rock floor of the section of the cave he had made into living quarters.

The chest now laid between them, open casually as if the things within it were every-day objects instead of miracles from other lives. Never before had she seen so many treasures that weren't made of precious metals. A spill of velvet material poured over the edge of the box and dragged on the dirty floor; Selendrile didn't seem to mind. He had stacked layers of books beside it, until he found the one he was searching for, the one he was currently giving all his attention too, and then had left the rest of them where they were. For someone who never had much of anything, his mistreatment of things was driving her crazy with need to protect said possessions. But also, she couldn't help but wonder, exactly how big was his horde?

"Selendrile?" She asked a second time, no closer to knowing which of the pressing questions was going to pop out of her mouth.

"Yes?" He looked slightly exasperated, likely wishing she would stop interrupting his reading by saying his name, wishing she would just spit out whatever was bothering her.

"You need a nickname," she claimed instead, wanting to giggle madly at the silliness of her statement especially since she had no idea where it came from. If she did laugh, then he would know for a fact that she was nuts.

"A nickname?" Instead of looking at her like she was insane, he looked slightly confused. It was a completely endearing and human expression.

"Yes," she answered him carefully, trying to explain to him what she was talking about. Sometimes, she found it hard to give him definitions to words and expressions she had known and taken for granted since birth. "It is a shortened form of your name that other people give you."

"My name is too long." He nodded as if he had expected as much. "You may call me Joe, if you wish."

"No, that isn't what I meant." She was making a total fob of explaining it to him. "A nickname is an expression of closeness between two people. My dad used to call me Sunshine…"

"But that isn't shorter," he interrupted, his golden eyebrows drawn tightly over his fierce purple eyes.

"It was an endearment. Sunshine because my laugh chased away the clouds he said, and that my smile made his day." Alys could feel the tears well up in her eyes. Slowly, she was starting to talk about her memories of her father. Selendrile never pointed out the trails of salty water which would stream down her face when she unsuccessfully kept the tears at bay. She was thankful for that, as she couldn't help the tears, but always felt slightly better, if not mentally exhausted, after them.

His amethyst eyes pierced her soul. His head inclined once, as if telling her he understood what she was saying as well as what she wasn't. Then, to remind her that he wasn't always human, he said, "Your laugh doesn't do that."

"It used to," she explained softly, wanting her laugh back for a moment so she could prove it to him. Quickly, she shoved the melancholy aside, figuring it best not to dwell. "How about Sele?"

He wrinkled his nose adorably, like a five-year old refusing a bath.

Alys laughed, but he was right, the sound fell hollow on her own ears. "Drile?"

"So this nickname thing is just cutting out parts of the name you already have?" His book was now lying forgotten across his lap.

"My friend Risa used to called me Alli." Alys tugged on one of her short strands of hair. It was times like this that made her wish she had never cut it. Yes, she had thought it would grow back in time, but for some reason she hadn't seen herself living that long. Maybe she really had thought Selendrile would kill her, or maybe she thought God would strike her down for planning revenge. Neither had happened yet, and she still had boy-hair.

"Do you need to call me something other than Selendrile?" He asked, again looking at her as if he saw straight into her thoughts. His gaze was unnerving, but she doubted he ever found exactly what he was looking for, or he wouldn't have to keep searching.

"No," she replied quietly. She had only wanted to find something else to call him. Something that was only hers. Then, she realized that she already had it. Selendrile wasn't in the habit of giving his name out to just anyone. In fact, she couldn't remember him ever volunteering it. It was her who always introduced him and used it in conversation so others would pick it up. For a moment she didn't care whether Selendrile was his real name or just something he suggest in the spur of the moment. He had given her something precious, and now that she realized it, she wanted to keep it safe – safer than he kept his own material possessions, that's for sure.

"Good. Had I thought you would have trouble with it, I would have picked something easier."

"It's no trouble," she smiled - it also lacked the sunshine. "It isn't like I have to spell it or anything," she joked at her own expense. "Or my name, for that matter."

Selendrile stared at her thoughtfully and then put his book on the ground next to him. He patted the ground on the opposite side, beckoning her to come sit next to him without using words. Alys disengaged herself from the blankets and furs on top of the mattress he had brought into the cave that time she had been accosted by the fairy. She crossed the short space between them and sat at his side. The ground he was sitting on was almost sandy in its consistency, which would have made it far more comfortable to sit on for hours than the normal rock floor. She had never seen him stagger to his feet, the muscles in his legs and bottom asleep or tingling with pins and needles like hers were prone to when she sat on the rock floor for hours on end. Maybe he had the right idea sitting in the loose gravel, or maybe his dragon powers just stopped his legs and butt from falling asleep.

Gingerly, she lowered herself to the ground beside him. She arranged her legs under her, mimicking his pose. Maybe he just knew how to sit. He was way smarter than she was, after all. Her knee pressed into his thigh for a second before she jerked it away, heart pounding. The position she was in wasn't that comfortable, but at least she wasn't touching him anymore. Now she could deny that the proximity was making her nervous - in a good way. Nope. There was nothing to sitting beside a handsome dragon who wasn't the least bit interested in her species.

He pressed a finger against the loose dirt, drawing out the a letter for her. "This is an A. It sounds like 'Aai' or 'Ahh'. Can you think of a word that starts like that?"

Alys thought for a second, before timidly answering him. She didn't want him to think she was stupid with a wrong response. "My name? Ahh-lys."

Selendrile nodded, a slight encouraging smile across his lips. "That's good. How about the 'Aai' sound now?"

This one was trickier. 'Aai' she thought, immediately noticing the similarities between the letter's name and one of the sounds it made. "Do all letters make the same sound as they're called?" She asked, not only trying to buy time as she thought, but also sincerely interested in the answer.

"Not all," he was looking far more pleased with her, as if she had told him she could make straw into gold instead of making a simple observation. Apparently, Selendrile enjoyed sharing his wisdom with her, especially when she figured things out before he had to tell her. That only put more pressure on her to please him. And boy, did she ever feel pressure to please him in some way. He continued, "mostly the vowels do."

"Vowels?" What did that mean? If it was anything like bowels, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"We'll get to that later," he promised. "Now the 'Aai' word.

A. A. A. "Acorn?" Alys asked, slightly grimacing at how unsure her voice sounded.

"Yes. Now try to make the letter A for yourself." He pointed to his drawing on the ground. Then, maybe because he saw the confusion flitting across her face, he wiped out the A and slowly wrote it again. Selendrile then gestured that it was her turn. "It's like the top part of a triangle, and then crossed in the middle."

With a shaky hand, Alys took her pointer finger and started with the slanted upwards line. She paused, comparing her attempt with his, and then put in the downwards line. Finally, with a sense of triumph, she inserted a bridge in the middle of the incomplete triangle.

"Ok. Now a little a." Selendrile wiped out her hard work and drew a small a.

"What?" Alys was confused again. She was about to disappoint him at any second now.

Selendrile only grinned sheepishly. "Maybe I should have explained that first. A sentence or a name starts with a big A because it is important, all other times the A is small. The same goes with all other letters."

She pondered this. "So my name would have the big letter and acorn would have the small?" She asked.

"Exactly!"

"Selendrile," she narrowed her eyes at him. "How many letters are there?"

"Twenty-six," he answered without hesitation.

Alys was shocked. She'd never learn them all. This was hopeless. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed.

"You're sighing again," he pointed out.

She sighed. He looked amused. "I'll never learn to read," she moaned, bringing her legs to her chest and resting her head on her knees in resignation. "Twenty six letters, each with a small and big –" She moved her hand in a vague representation of the A she had drawn in the dirt. "That's fifty-two things to learn. And if each one has at least one sound, that's seventy-eight things I need to remember. And then there is this trowel thing you need to explain to me -" She sighed again, then looked to see if she had disappointed him with her whining.

He looked slightly impressed. "Maybe we should work to improve your math skills."

Alys's eyes widened in alarm as she added twenty six to twenty six and then the answer to twenty six again. Hey! She was completely correct. Maybe they should work on HIS math skills. "I'm good with numbers." She told him, sulking that he was insulting something she was proud of. She could count up to a hundred and add large numbers like twenty six in her head. None of the other girls in her village could do that. It was more important to teach them skills they would use, like quilt making, but her father needed her to know a bit of math in order to keep his business afloat.

"Actually. What I'm saying is that I could teach you to take the number three away from sixty-six seven times. Without subtracting."

Alys blinked. Was that even possible? She grinned at him, excited about the things he could teach her once again. She leaned over and copied the small a in the dirt next to his. That day, he taught her until the letter G. Within a week, she could spell out her own name. Within two, she was slowly sounding out words from his book. She didn't realize it at the time, and Selendrile never complimented her on it, but she was quick to learn everything he could teach. Long division was a breeze, if sometimes a lie.

Because two divided by one didn't make two.

©RelenaFanel

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So… boring chapter? I actually think it's kind of cute. Anyway, I have a question to ask you guys about my Adversaries of the Light (Companion's of the Night sequel) story. I meant to put this in the author's notes there, but I forgot (I was too busy asking who wanted a Heir Apparent story. You can answer that question too if you want). How many of you would like me to put Michel and Kerry in a situation where I would have up the rating up to an M :hint:hint:nudge:nudge? 


	6. Chapter 6

To Lure A Dragon

Chapter 6

Alys wandered through the cavern, straining her eyes in an attempt to find a familiar section of the rocked wall, ceiling, or floor. Her father always told her to make landmarks while in exploring the forest so she wouldn't get lost, so she had tried. She hadn't realized that walking through a cave was so very different from everywhere else. Selendrile did it so easily. The problem was that inside the darkness, with every surface having the same consistence, up looked like down, down looked like up, and every tunnel looked exactly like the next one. She had been stumbling around the underground caves for what seemed like hours (Selendrile was teaching her how to tell time too, only she was better at it when she could actually see the sun. They had very quickly figured out that instinctively knowing day from night was a dragon trait). Unlike some people, she didn't mind admitting it. She was hopelessly lost.

She had watched Selendrile navigate from the outside to the inner chamber with ease and a sense of direction so often that she had thought the way would be ingrained into her head. No such luck. Apparently following someone (or being carried by them) was far different from doing it on your own. When he found her, he would smirk and shake his head condescendingly before leading her to where she wanted to go. She knew what his reaction would be - this was the second time she'd gotten lost in the maze of caves this week.

The waning light of her torch sputtered, throwing shadows over the already deep and dark tunnels. Her arm was aching from holding the heavy burning wood away from her body. She didn't want to watch fire. Wouldn't do for Selendrile to find her charred, cooked body when he figured out she was missing. Dragons probably didn't eat cooked meat anyway. What a waste.

"Selendrile?" Alys called out half-heartedly. Her not-so-adept internal clock told her it was still daylight and he was still snoozing the great dragon sleep, but it had been wrong before. He wouldn't be able to save her for a few hours yet. She loathed the fact Selendrile would have to come to her rescue once again. It was like she had saved his life once and he was indebted to her to spend the rest of said life following her around and saving hers.

The torch failed to illuminate a space on the floor a few steps away from her feet. She squinted, wondering if it was a trick of light or if the floor dropped off into what could quite possibly be a deep abyss, or even a shallow hole no deeper than her ankle. She didn't have time to step closer and check, for her torch burned out, leaving a few glowing embers in the fire-darkened wood.

Should she consider going on without being able to see and hope to stumble across an entrance to the cave, so when Selendrile found her freezing outside she'd be able to say 'ha! I got out this time!' or should she stay where she was? Going back was another option, she supposed. Alys compromised with the least dangerous of the three, lowering herself to the cold ground carefully, trying not to brush the burnt-out light against herself. She knew from experience that just because a fire looked to be out, didn't mean it wasn't still burning. Alys gently blew on the torch, trying to nurse the glowing flame-eaten wood back into a light-source. Finally giving up with a trademark sigh, she hunkered down, waiting for the invaluable dragon skills her fey companion would use to find her.

"Selendrile?" She called again, trying to pace her cries. She wasn't sure if he could hear and understand her while in his true form, but she didn't want him to think she was in serious trouble. She did need to pee, but that wasn't so much a dilemma as it was bad luck. Yet anyway. Another hour of sitting against a cold slab of rock and she might change her mind. This whole thing wouldn't have happened if she was able to sleep. She still wasn't used to sleeping during the day and being awake all night, and Selendrile had assumed that it was another defect in her human body. Truth was, she wouldn't be able to sleep at night either. When she was alone, lost in her own thoughts, she thought of and mourned for her father with a single-mindedness she couldn't shake. When she finally managed to drift off to sleep, she had nightmares. Selendrile could never know about those.

"Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz," she muttered, trying to keep her mind occupied. The last thing she needed was to think of her father so close after having one of those nightmares. She had needed to be alone and get away from Selendrile for a while, but that never really worked out either. She was a mess and the only thing she could really do about it was hope for a normal night sleep for once. She never did seem to get her wish.

"Alys. A-l-y-s." That was boring. She has learned how to spell her own name almost immediately after Selendrile finished explaining the alphabet. Now, she was learning how to read the bigger words with mixed success. She figured she was doing well enough so that Selendrile didn't become impatient, but after two weeks of learning she wasn't able to pick up a book and read yet. He kept telling her it took time, but that was easy for him to say. He had picked reading up in seconds (s-e-c-o-n-d-s, another term he taught her). "Selendrile. S-e-l-l-e-n-d-r-y-l---e? I'll have to ask him," she muttered to the empty cave. The cave didn't respond, so she figured she was safe from other fey for the moment. He had warned her about gnomes, but she hadn't seen one yet.

"You'll recognize them by their red pointed hats," Selendrile had explained.

After that she kept a look-out for them. She didn't want to step on the poor things.

"Hats. H-a-t-s." Oh yeah, she was bored. "Bored. B-o-r-d." That one didn't sound right. The game was far more fun when Selendrile was around to smile if she got it accurate, or soothingly correct her when she was wrong. Alys sighed again. It was going to be a long few hours.

"12. 24. 36. 48. 60. 72. 84. 96. 108." Too easy.

"13. 26. 39. 52. 65. 78. 91. 104. 117." She wasn't sure, but she still could be adding the numbers together. She was trying to learn this multiplication thing, not how to add quicker.

"117 times 42 equals," she paused to think about it for a second, frowning as her mind tried to mentally multiply the numbers. "4914." She still wasn't sure if she was right or not. "2914 divided by 13 equals," Alys muttered. This equation took her slightly longer. It was harder to go back than forwards. That applied to life as well. If she was able to solve the problems in her life as easily as she could check if her multiplication was correct through reversing the problem and dividing, she might not be having these nightmares. "378 divided by 42 equals 9. 9 times 13 equals 117."

"Selendrile!" Alys yelled. She needed something else to occupy her time. She was going a bit stir-crazy. Maybe she could tell herself a story. "Once upon a time there was a girl named Alys, and she…" Alys broke off. That one took even less time than the other ones. She yawned. So tired. So bored. So lost. Before she knew it, her eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep.

_She was tied on the side of the mountain as bait for the dragon. Her wet dress was clinging uncomfortably to her skin and she couldn't stop shivering from the cold. Her eyes were frantically scanning the sky, looking for the winged form coming to eat her. She couldn't really see much through the tears in her eyes. It wasn't fair. She wasn't a witch, only a normal girl. Alys sniffled, not even able to wipe her running nose on her sleeve._

"_Alys," a voice whispered roughly from the trees. She looked, heart leaping with hope. Her father stepped out from his hidden shelter, looking pale and haggard. He was clutching his chest as if he could alleviate his pain and exhaustion._

"_Father," Alys cried out, hoping her voice didn't betray their position, but not able to keep the relief away. She would be saved now. Her father would let her out of the bonds and they could go home. No. She didn't want to see those people ever again. They could go start a new life somewhere else. Slowly, her father was moving towards her. She wanted to scream for him to hurry up, that they didn't have much time, but one look at his face stopped her from saying anything. He must have almost killed himself following the townspeople over the country-side. He hadn't looked completely healthy since his illness, but now he looked like he was knocking on death's door._

_Suddenly, as he stumbled towards her, a shadow swooped down from the sky and landed behind her ailing father. The dragon had come! It opened its mouth, teeth and lips pulled back into what looked like a sardonic grin. Alys stared at the dragon. The dragon stared at her. Alys watched her father quiver and drop. As did the dragon. Quicker than she expected such a bulky creature to move, the dragon swooped his head down and devoured her father. Sharp teeth bit into flesh, and a squirt of blood splattered from her father's body and onto the hem of her dress._

_Alys screamed. The golden dragon turned into the human form of a beautiful boy, obscenely sucking on his teeth as he watched her. A stream of blood trailed down his chin. He smiled._

"SELENDRILE!" Alys woke up as she screamed his name. Her breath was coming in pants. 'Just a dream,' she told herself. He hadn't killed her father. By that time, her father had been dead.

"No need to shout. I'm right here." His voice trailed across her skin. Alys shivered in disgust as if she had just walked through a cobweb and she resisted the urge to wipe her arms as if to clean them. She turned her head sharply to the side as he immerged from the shadows. He knelt beside her and smirked, just as she thought he would, as he reached out a hand to help her up.

Alys flinched, turning her head away from him. Her body tensed at the thought of him touching her. God, she couldn't get that spurt of blood out of her head. He had killed her father, just like that. No. Her father hadn't been there. He hadn't been there at all, and Selendrile had been kind.

"What's wrong," he demanded, making no more sudden moves. He was trying to alleviate her fear, like a predator might do to get close to his prey.

"Nothing," she mumbled, pushing against the wall as she stumbled to her feet. He frowned at her, his eyes searching her face. She knew he'd see how unnerved she was. Every time she had one of the nightmares, it took her a bit longer to calm down, and even longer before she could trust him again. She knew, she really did, that he hadn't done what she had seen in the dream, just as she knew by the look on his face that he knew she was lying. "A nightmare," she muttered. "That's all."

"That's all?" He repeated, lip curling in disgust. "I can smell the fear coming off you in waves. I can…" he trailed to a halt as her eyes widened and her heartbeat picked up. "Whatever it was, it wasn't real."

"I know," Alys whispered. "I'll be ok." She could tell that he thought she was lying again. "I WILL," Alys asserted. "I always am. It just takes a while."

She could see his face, the frown between his eyebrows, the way he pursed his lips when he was thinking. He had brought another torch. Maybe the change in light had been why she had awoken when she had, or maybe he had said something to her. All she knew was that the dream usually didn't end there.

"How long has this been happening?" He grabbed her arm, forcefully turning her to face him when she tried to move away.

Alys couldn't meet his eyes. "A while," she finally confessed. She didn't tell him that she had barely been sleeping. He didn't need to know that, and she had a feeling he realized it nonetheless.

"And they're…" he let go of her, trying for delicacy. "About me?"

She was tempted to lie, but then he probably already knew the answer to that too. She wasn't sure if it was dragon intuition or familiarity with her that helped him understand things without being told, but sometimes it was both a curse and a blessing. "Yes. You. My father. That hill you found us," she trailed off. "ME on."

He immediately noticed her slip of words. "Tell me about it," he gently urged.

Alys shook her head. He would think she was foolish or would get insulted by what her subconscious kept showing her. She could tell he was disappointed that she wasn't opening up to him. She did feel a bit guilty, but her need to protect herself was greater. She was still seeing him as the enemy, despite the notable difference between the dragon in her dream and the boy who was taking her hand and leading her back through the catacombs of the cave. "Can we go outside so I can pee?"

He immediately changed directions just as she had changed the topic of conversation – with a sense of relief. They both remained silent as he led them up to the surface. The journey was shorter than usual. Apparently, she had been going in the right direction before she got lost this time. That was good news. Maybe after another week or so of losing her way, she'd make it on her own. They emerged into the quiet night. There was a dull grey blanket covering the stars and moon so that the only light was from Selendrile's torch.

"I'll just…" Alys gestured over to a bush awkwardly. As she spoke, her breath turned into little foggy puffs. Great, just what she needed. Squatting behind the foliage was uncomfortable on a regular day, but now that it was getting colder out she was seriously wishing for an outhouse or something. Alys edged over to the coniferous bushes, thankful that there was still something to hide her from Selendrile's view as she did her stuff. Most of the leaves from the trees had already fallen, so twiggy little branches wouldn't serve as much of a cover. She seriously hoped Selendrile got the hint and went back into the cave. It was unnerving to pee when he was standing just a few feet away.

She got behind the covering, practically dancing as she tried to hold it in for just a few more seconds. Quickly, she tugged off her pants. After an unpleasant accident she had with falling mid-squat, she no longer tried to pee around her clothing. It was colder this way, but she didn't need Selendrile laughing at her and her urinated clothes again. Alys crouched, either the cold or embarrassment lending a blush to her face.

"I try not to eat humans, you know." Selendrile said conversationally from the other side of the bush.

Alys jerked mid-pee, somehow managing to hold the second half in. Oh my God. Who did that? She was lucky none landed on her leg. Maybe this was one of those times he wasn't aware that normal human behaviour usually dictated not to talk to someone while they were emptying their bladder, and even worse, to listen while they did it too. "Selendrile!" She shrieked. "Go away while I do this!"

"Human meat is usually pretty sparse on the bone. You're all too skinny, and don't make good meals."

"I'm peeing!"

"You stopped," he pointed out. She could almost hear the smile on his face.

"Because you started talking about how yummy humans are!" Alys popped up from behind the bush long enough to glare at him. He was looking straight towards her. She really hoped her covering was as thick as it looked, because she really didn't need him to see anything along with hearing. "Please, just go back into the cave for a second."

"I can't leave after the nightmare you just had. It wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me."

Now he was worried about manners! "No one ever considered you one of those." Her bladder screamed. "I'll tell you about it if you just leave," she bribed desperately. Selendrile grinned at her wolfishly, clearly amused, but finally heeded her request and turned back into the cave.

Alys didn't even stop to watch him leaving. She finished doing what she had to, pulled her pants back up, and walked from behind the bush. Selendrile was standing closer than she expected, leaning against the side of the entrance. He was still grinning. This time, his smile didn't scare her and remind her of the dream - it only infuriated her and made her want to smile back. Yeah. He definitely knew what he was doing that whole time. "You aren't funny," she muttered.

"Oh, I'm very funny. Amusing oneself is something we learn in dragon school." He offered his arm, apparently taking his role of gentleman seriously. "And talking about school, let's go read some Beowulf."

Eugh. Beowulf. Apparently she was going to have to learn French if she wanted to read the really interesting stories. Oh well. C'est la vie.

©RelenaFanel2006.

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Hey! Yay, new chapter! This almost didn't get written, as I had a final exam on Wednesday and another Thursday. A few of you asked if I was going to do a smutty chapter for this story too, and my honest answer is that if I do, it won't be until chapters and chapters and chapters later. I hope you enjoyed the update. Please review! 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This is far more retrospective to inner feelings than I'm used to doing, and even then I'm not confident about it.

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 7_

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For the first time in what seemed like years, but was really only a month, Alys woke up fully rested. She had slept soundly though the night, not bothered by dreams of her father or nightmares of his death. For her first moments of wakefulness, she just stretched her languid muscles and let her eyes flutter open. She felt as if she could still sleep forever. Alys knew that it would talk much longer than one good night of sleep before she was feeling back to her normal self, but for a minute she just laid in her make-shift bed and relished the feeling of waking up on her own and not due to a panicked shock of terror during the night.

Alys yawned, her jaw popping audibly in her ears. She didn't even bother covering her mouth. Turning bodily in the bed, she glanced towards dragon Selendrile only to find the spot he usually rested on to be empty. That was also a first. Usually she woke up far before he did and his bulky golden form was the first thing she saw. Sometimes, the dragon lunging towards her was the last thing she observed in these nightmares, so she barely took comfort in Selendrile's presence in these moments – or so she thought. It unnerved her far more not to see him there than should.

"Selendrile?" Alys called, blinking repeatedly to keep her eyes open. She sat up in bed, the fur covers falling from around her and pooling at her waist. Rubbing her eyes with her fists, she wiped away the remnants of the Sandman on her lids and then darted her eyes around the inner cavern. He wasn't sitting on the floor reading a book. She also noticed there was only one torch left instead of the normal two. She stood up, walking immediately towards the torch. Usually, when she woke up first she would grab one of the torches and make her way outside in order to catch the last hours of sun. The temperature had fallen in the past couple of weeks, making sitting still in the wild for long periods of time uncomfortable. Animals no longer flitted across her line of sight, keeping her company, either. It was getting to the point in autumn where she had to wear her boy clothes and add a dress on over them for added layers of warmth. Sometimes she even had to return for one of the furs on the bed.

She stared at the torch on the wall for a moment, wondering if Selendrile had taken the other one to go outside like her own habits dictated she do if she woke first. She knew he couldn't leave the cave as a dragon because the tunnels were too narrow at points. That meant it was well into the night, when he could take on human – or any other perceivable animal – shape. She was also aware that he didn't need the torch in order to see his way through the dark like she did. "Where are you," she muttered, grabbing the burning stick of wood off the wall. Quickly, she angled it towards the lake of warm water on the other side of the cavern to make sure he wasn't taking a swim. The fire didn't glint off his golden hair or skin like it was prone to, so he wasn't in the water.

Alys just hoped he was ok. The night before, she had collapsed from exhaustion before he had arrived back from scouting the countryside. She hadn't really thought anything of it at them time, but now she was worried he had never returned. She wished she knew what time it was. It was far easier to assume he got back, slept, and woke up before she did, she mused while turning towards the entrance to outside. A few weeks ago, after she kept getting lost in the tunnels he had set up a rope guide for her to follow, and now she was so adept at the twists and turns, she barely had to look down to see if she was still following the lead.

It froze her heart to think that something could have happened to him. He was all she had left in the world. Alys rushed through the cave, not even bothering to grab one of the blankets for additional warmth. He had to be outside. The torch was gone and he had to be the explanation for that. In her panic she took a wrong turn, finding herself in an unfamiliar cave with no rope trail at her feet. She closed her eyes, fending off the panic with a deep breath. What if she was lost and he never came back to find her? What someone had trapped him in iron again and he died at sunup while she was sleeping peacefully? What if he deliberately left?

Turning around, she backtracked until she found the rope. For the rest of the journey, she diligently kept her eyes focused on the cable on the ground and tried not to think of her dragon companion. She made it to the mouth of the catacombs in record time. She gasped at the sight which met her eyes and all her worries dissipated like the fog after the sun came out.

She stared at the night sky, almost alight with clouds. Big wet flakes of snow lazily fell to the ground, covering every surface with a heavy layer of whiteness. Sitting in the middle of the untouched purity of the scenery was Selendrile. He wasn't moving, merely staring upwards as flecks of snow caressed the plains of his face, quickly melting. His golden hair was indivisible through all the snowflakes coating it, and where the snow wasn't covering his shoulder thickly, it had melted to make his clothing completely wet. It was the first time she had seen him look at peace as a human. Alys wasn't even sure she had realized how tense and weary of his surroundings he was until she saw him in moments like this.

She couldn't take her eyes off him long enough to enjoy the first snowfall of the season. She had been waiting for the snow and now that it was here, she was too busy thinking about Selendrile to really get up a child-like enthusiasm for the flakes of whiteness. Why would he just sit there? Was he thinking of something? Was he cold? Alys took a step out of the cave, drawn towards him. The snow crunched under her feet and the falling drops of frozen water melted against her warm cheeks, nose, and eyelids. She paused, realizing that her noisy entrance could ruin the tranquility surrounding Selendrile. She would do anything to allow him to keep his moment, if only for a second longer. Alys stood, snow twirling around and between the two of them. She inhaled deeply, relishing the bite as the cold air hit her nose and lungs. She sighed, exhaling the breath of air into a cloud of fog.

Selendrile tensed, twirling around on the log he had been sitting on. Piles of snow tumbled ridiculously off his shoulders and head, making small indentations in the field of white around him. He stared at her, taking in the snowflakes sticking obstinately in her hair and the alarmed look on her face for disrupting him; then he smiled, disarming Alys with his beauty. He rarely ever smiled for no reason, and every time he did it took her breath away.

"Come here," he welcomed, patting the snow-covered branch beside him.

"Are you daft?" Alys asked, wearily eyeing the wet snow he was gesturing to. She couldn't help but grin back at him. She may have been doing so since he first looked at her, or maybe even before when she first saw him sitting there, safe. Her heart was tripping in her chest as she took a step towards him. The snow still crunched underfoot and flakes still spiraled through the air and stung her eyes, but she was oblivious. "Selendrile," she whispered softly, his name a question she wasn't aware she was asking and didn't expect an answer to.

"We need to talk," he told her seriously, his back straightening into his normal regal bearing.

"Of course," she told him, taking another step forward and reaching above her. He didn't even notice her hand reaching for the branch, a testament to the fact he hadn't been raised as a human child. Swiftly, she pulled the tree limb, grinning and jumping backwards as the whole bough quivered and dropped about a ton of snow on Selendrile's head.

For a moment, all she could see was his eyes blinking at her from under a layer of whiteness. Those expressive purple fey eyes stared at her in shock, as if he hadn't expected her to do anything so devious in a million years. Alys grinned mischievously at him, daring her dragon companion to retaliate. He merely frowned, reaching up to swipe the melting snow from his face. Once he finished, Selendrile looked up into the bare branches of the tree. Alys figured he was either trying to figure out what had happened, or he was seeing if there were any handy piles of snow resting above her anywhere, just waiting to be knocked over. Quickly, before he had time to take revenge, she pulled at the limb again.

A single drop of snow, smaller than a snowball even, fell from the tree and handed directly in Selendrile's upraised eye.

He scowled at her.

Alys pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. Selendrile crossed his arms over his chest, looking very disapproving of her little game. The snow dropped from his eye, slithering down his cheek until it plopped onto his shirt. Alys couldn't control herself anymore, as peals of giggles emerged from her lips and echoed through the empty forest. She didn't even bother covering her mouth with a hand to try to stifle them. This was the first time she had been honestly amused for a long time. There hadn't been much joy in her life even before her father had died. Alys snuck a peek at her companion, noticing he was still glaring at her. It only made her more amused.

She didn't even notice when Selendrile swooped low like a bird of prey, diving towards her. He connected forcefully with her legs, knocking her to the ground in a tackle which would have made a football player proud. Alys shrieked as she rapidly went down into the soft snow. Her bottom hit first, sinking into the frozen cushion as the rest of her followed a split second later. Selendrile jumped up quickly, grabbing at the sides of her waist as he tickled her. She laughed, gasping for breath as he dug his fingers gently into her sensitive sides. Quickly, she gathered her legs to her chest, trying to protect herself as well as push him away.

He didn't even notice her knee coming towards him until it beamed him in the nose.

"Geez!" Selendrile groaned, rubbing the sore part of his face ruefully. He had automatically jumped back a foot, showing reflexes which were barely human.

"I'm sorry!" Alys gasped, catching her breath. She rolled on to her back, straightening her body against the crisp snow. She stared up at the clouded sky, watching as flakes of snow fluttered to earth, heading towards her. She felt… happy. For the first time in a while, she was living in the now instead of looking towards the past. She couldn't really see the possibility of a future yet, but she hoped it was with this boy-dragon by her side when she was finally able to see through the fog and bricks obscuring her view. The fog was her own grief at her father's passing, and the bricks, well, she wasn't sure where they were from, but they were protecting and sheltering her heart. "I really, really didn't mean to hurt you," she sincerely told him, turning her head to look towards Selendrile.

He was watching her carefully, a slight frown of wonderment or bemusement drawing his eyebrows together. "I nose it," he answered lamely, giving her a lopsided grin.

Alys smiled at him. Tonight was a night of firsts. She could almost feel her dimples being put to use for the first time in ages.

Seledrile stared at her for a moment. "Sunshine," he muttered, flopping down next to her and turning on his side so he could still watch her face.

"What?" Alys asked not because she didn't hear him but because she was slightly surprised he had said anything. Just like that, her carefree amusement was gone, replaced by the grief she was wearing as a constant uniform. If Selendrile was always tense except in moments of relaxation, then she was always mourning for her father except for brief masks when she pretended everything was fine. The grief hit her harder than it had felt earlier in the day now that it was coupled with guilt. How could she be laughing and frolicking? "Did you just call me…" she trailed off, not able to finish the sentence.

Selendrile, for all his faults and faux pas fitting in with humanity, was still a very quick study. He immediately recognized that he had upset her. "I understand that it was your dad's pet name for you. It will always be a connection between the two of you." He reached his hand out, grasping her smaller fist with his own. "But the sun hasn't been shining for a while, Alys, and I think he would enjoy seeing a ray or two every now and then."

Alys reached up with her free hand and wiped the melting snowflakes away from beneath her eyes. "I know. It's just…" her voice cracked. It was just many things: she wasn't ready to let go yet; the life she knew without her father was full of uncertainty; she couldn't laugh and smile freely yet, without grief overshadowing it and guilt completely absorbing the rays. She couldn't say any of that to him yet. Maybe she would some time. "The layers in that metaphor are really jumbled." She sniffed, giving a watery smile.

Selendrile snorted, tightening his grasp on her hand. "Three weeks ago you didn't even know what a metaphor was."

Alys pulled her hand away sharply. "So? What? Are you implying that I'm better off now than I was?" She hadn't really thought of that, but now that she had, it was another thing to be guilty about. Her future, here and now, might be uncertain- Selendrile might leave at any point, or she might be the one who leaves. It didn't really matter, but if they did become separated, he had taught her so much in their time together, knowledge which couldn't be taken away, and she was far more prepared for life. All thanks to Selendrile. She was betraying the man who taught her his trade and made his daughter a protégé out of necessity. "Because everything I am, I am because of my family."

During her speech Selendrile went from being contrite for making her angry, to edging on furious himself. He sat up, hovering over her like a fallen angel haloed against grey. "No. Everything you are is because of you. The choices you made and the people you've known are an integral part, but it's all you. Nothing changes that, not even you can." He looked so serious, and yet caring, as if he sincerely wanted her to be happy again at some point, even if she stayed angry with him.

She stayed still, looking beyond him and up into the infinite sky. It had stopped snowing and a patch of stars was opening up above his left shoulder. She didn't know if what he said was true, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to think about it too deeply, but he did give her an understanding she hadn't had before. Once, he had helped her realize she was going to be all right, and there was nothing wrong with not wanting to be alone. Now, she knew what she wanted out of life. He had given her a ray of hope and it shone brighter than any smile she could possibly give.

It was a night for firsts, and it wouldn't be the last.

* * *

©RelenaFanel13/05/2006

Hey everyone. I know you're all excited about me finally updating this story. Please honour me and my hard work with a review. Also, please check out my Club Vampyr, a new Companions of the Night story. I hope you all enjoy.


	8. Chapter 8

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 8_

Alys shivered, wrapping a fur tightly around her shoulders. Selendrile had picked the perfect lair for surviving the winter. It was warm, cozy, and didn't have a bear hibernating in it. Unfortunately, the magic of hot springs didn't extend to the outside reaches of the cave, and she was freezing because of it. Squinting into the black night, Alys stood at the mouth of the cavern, her eyes searching out the familiar form of her golden-haired companion – human or not. Not a single living thing entered her range of view, and she was sure he could probably turn into all of them. The only movement on the deserted mountain-side was a random flake of snow fluttering to Earth and a stark chilling breeze assaulting the ice-stiffened trees. It had started to snow the week before, and for a brief amount of time they had enjoyed the novelty of the flakes, but it hadn't stopped since then and Selendrile was having a more difficult time to locate food. Water, however, was plentiful if they just melted snow.

Her fingers were freezing, stiff and icy like the branches of the trees she could see. The air was lightening, signifying the early reaches of dawn breaking through the overwhelming blackness of the night. Alys worked one of her hands into a fist, trying to warm the fingers and promote circulation. Her feet circled and paced the same clear stretch of earth just within the mouth of the cave, avoiding the drifting snow blowing into the mouth. Her other hand was tightly grasping her fur blanket against the elements, and she could feel the exposed corners of her fingers turn red and raw. In a few minutes, she would change hands again.

"Selendrile!" She screamed into the deathly quiet of the wintery pre-dawn. She wasn't sure what time it was, but when the sky began to turn deep purple instead of black, she instinctively knew he didn't have long to get back before the sun came out fully and he had to remain a dragon. This morning wasn't the first time he had left the cave's warmth and protection, then stayed away from half the night. However, it was the first time he hadn't returned before sunrise. "You ratfink," she muttered, kicking a lump of snow.

"Ow!" Alys exclaimed, hopping once on her remaining good foot in order to regain balance and keep off the injury. She glared at the rock she had stubbed her foot on beneath the lump of snow. It was just another thing she could add to the growing list of ailments Selendrile was responsible for. At the moment, topping that inventory was possible frostbite.

Frowning crossly, her mood considerable worsened now that she was both freezing and in pain, Alys sat down on the cold, but dry ground just within the mouth of the cave. How dare he keep making her wait for him like this! Sure, she was partially responsible for actually waiting, but he was still being irresponsible and selfish. These journeys of his were becoming more and more a regularity. Now, Selendrile would go for days where everything was fine and then he would just snap. During these dark moods he would sometimes yell at her and storm off. Other times he would just ignore her for hours and then leave without a word. She wasn't sure which was worse, as each hurt her a great amount. The first was the reason she was huddled inside the cave, scowling into the blackness.

She was worried about him. About them. Questions kept flittering through her head at his strange behavior. What happened to the sweet, if subtly manipulative, boy he had been? Well, it was debatable whether he was ever really sweet, but he smiled at her far less frequently now. Was he in trouble? In danger? Was he growing tired of having a human companion? Had she driven him away from her? Was he keeping secrets from her? Did Selendrile hate her? Was she starting to look like an appetizing meal?

Alys's teeth started to chatter in earnest now. She wasn't sure how long she had been out here, but the first hour her own anger and guilt had kept her warm. Now she felt drained and betrayed, just a lonely girl who was left alone in her world. She had left the warm protection of the cavern with the hoped he was sitting outside on his log again. She had wanted to apologize. This latest argument was partially her fault, and she was willing to take responsibility for it. Instead, she had found nothing outside the cave, not even a set of footprints. Even if she hadn't looked him in the eye and said 'I'm sorry' to Selendrile yet, she didn't think she'd be able to stay outside waiting for him for much longer.

She didn't have to.

The sky was slowly growing light, revealing a prismatic range of oranges, pinks, and purples and allowing her to see more of the familiar landscape. She couldn't help but replay their argument in her mind, wondering where it had gone wrong. Why did he hate her?

"_Why do I need to learn French?" Alys whined, eyes almost crossing in an attempt to read the words in the book resting in her lap. The two of them were sitting side by side, huddled together over the French tome. Every time she managed to utter a sentence, he would translate it for her. The lessons had started off with simple pronunciation rules and had escalated in only a few days. It was difficult enough that she had just recently learned how to read and was still not adept or swift understanding all the words on paper. Sometimes, she still looked at writing and saw squiggles instead of words until her eyes focused and her brain reminded her what each symbol represented. Now, Selendrile was forcing her to relearn it all using a language she didn't understand._

"_C'est important." He replied casually, leaning back against the cavern wall. She didn't know how he automatically knew a language inside and out, especially since he only recently started to try his hand at constant humanity. "Et facile."_

"_No, it isn't easy. Not to me!" She snapped, simultaneously closing the book and glaring at him. Her mind didn't even register the fact she had translated his words automatically._

_Selendrile grinned smugly, not missing the truth behind her words. She was learning, even if it was frustrating._

"_Besides," she huffed. "That isn't a good reason for me to learn it." She crossed her arms over her chest, half turning her upper body so she could look at him straight on with confrontation in her eyes. "Important how?"_

_He wasn't planning to move them to France, was he? _

"_Your nobility speaks the language." Selendrile replied, reaching over and flicking the book open again._

"_And?" She asked testily, closing the book again. "Do you think a lowly peasant like me would ever meet nobility?" She didn't ask the question bitterly. She didn't know much about the charmed life of her betters other than they existed. She had grown up with a simple life, and had never really wanted for more until she met Selendrile._

"_You never know," he responded, a mysteriously sly grin pressed against his face as he shrugged. He was obviously up to something._

"_So, you're gonna what? Marry me off to the first rich guy we meet?" She was more than mildly irritated now. She was bordering on furious._

_All amusement fled from Selendrile's face. He surveyed her carefully, a frown starting to appear on his brow. "No."_

_Alys continued her tirade before he could defend himself. "That's it, isn't it? You're going to set me up with some wealthy old man so I don't have to worry about going hungry and you don't have to feel guilty for leaving." She jumped to her feet, glaring down at him as she yelled._

"_You'd certainly deserve it," Selendrile informed her coldly, staring up at her. Despite the fact she was towering over him, she was still cowed by the look in his eyes. They were supposed to be beautiful, a warm amethyst instead of the cold icy purple surveying her._

"_I…"_

_This time, he interrupted her. "Thanks for the idea. I wouldn't want to feel guilty after all. But wait!" He paused, raising his hand. His gaze was spiteful, almost hateful. His eyes narrowed as he prepared to say the most harmful thing ever to emerge from his mouth. "I could eat you right now and still not lose any sleep."_

_Alys could feel the tears well up in her eyes. She cursed them, hating the weakness in this moment more than she hated him. She had faced so much more than a few cruel words and remained strong, but this, coming from him tore at her. Now, in the face of the closest person in her life, she was about to break._

"_You want to know why?" He asked, expression turning crueler than she had ever seen it. He looked as bestial as his true form promised. "I don't care about you."_

_She blinked, a tear trailing its way down her dry skin. She beat down on him with her tiny fists, hoping she had done enough manual labour in her life for her punches to be effective. Women we're really known for being able to land a good roundhouse. He got up off the floor, ignoring her assult with a simple flick of his arm. She fell backwards, skittering across the hard ground like a flat stone across calm water. For a moment, he simply surveyed her, not asking whether she was ok, but also not looking vicious. He turned and left quickly, leaving her lying on her side staring after him. What had just happened? _

Would he ever come back? She didn't know, and for a while, when her feelings had been screaming in pain, she hadn't cared. She worried about him. About whether he had left for good, or ran into trouble in the form of binding iron. She also worried about herself. Would she be able to remain in the cave indefinitely with no food supply? In what direction was the nearest town? She could wander around for days, passing mere miles from a settlement and never know. At this time of year, survival was unlikely.

Alys waited in the cold, barely noticing the growing colors of the dawn. Somewhere out in the world there was a golden dragon – perhaps terrorizing some unsuspecting humans because of his anger towards one. Huddled, Alys waited until the sun was part-way into the sky, her fingers were red and numb, and her fears were the only thing keeping her the littlest bit warm. Finally, she couldn't take the cold anymore and stumbled to her feet. She could barely stand from a combination of sitting in one position for hours and the numbing cold paralyzing her limbs. It was a strange feeling to walk without sensing her toes.

As soon as she reached the cavern they had been living in, she immediately wanted to give into the urge to collapse on the bed and sleep. However, her memory reminded her of that seemingly long-ago night when Selendrile had first brought her to the hot springs because of hypothermia. She needed that warmth he had introduced her to.

Plus, she didn't want to give him any more reasons to think she couldn't take care of herself.

The hot water stung her freezing skin as she immersed first one foot and then the other into the springs. She didn't even bother taking her clothes off, too tired and cold to gather the energy to do much unnecessary movements. Agilely, she hopped into the underground springs, feeling the pain and comfort of the heat seeping into her muscles. Without thought, she leaned back against the edge of the pool of water, just enjoying the feeling of relaxation.

Once she was warm enough to feel human again, her mind started to act rationally. First, she divested herself off the wet garments clinging to her skin. Once she got out of the water, she would likely be collapsing in bed. It would take far more energy to take the clothing off while out of the water than it would in. She left the dress and pants to float on the surface around her as she just relaxed for a moment, finally realizing what was really worrying her. She didn't care if she ever apologized to Selendrile or he to her, but what if his harsh words had been the truth?

What if he still looked at her and saw food? What if he didn't care what happened to her?

In a fit of anger at herself, she crawled out of the water. Digging through his trunk of riches, she quickly located what he had called a lady's robe. It was silk and beautifully coloured in deep oranges and vibrant reds. The design of a golden dragon was splayed across the back. She wasn't aware of it, but it was a treasure from China. She put it on wet, punishing him for everything. Alys practically fell onto the bed, the slippery material falling around her, comforting and smooth. She landed on his image on the cloth.

What if he didn't care for her? That would break her heart because she cared for him far more than she should.

* * *

RelenaFanel26/05/2006

Finally. The plot moves on. You may not be able to see it in this chapter, or it may be blatantly obvious, but after this everything will change between Selendrile and Alys. Look for an update in exactly 2 weeks. Oh, and I have an assignment for all of you:

-Review. For me. Please. You know you love me.

-Tell me what you think about this mean Selendrile. Out of character? Intriguing? Can't wait to find out why?

-Go read Club Vampyr if you haven't already and are interested in vampires/Companions of the Night.

-Review that too.


	9. Chapter 9

**To Lure a Dragon**

**_Chapter 9_**

Alys's eyes fluttered open, and for a second she couldn't tell that she was now awake. The cave was perfectly dark, and eerily still. The only sound was the occasional drip of water into the lake further into the cave, and she knew that though something had woken her up, it was remaining silent now. There was something off about her surroundings, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She could tell by feel that she was lying on top of the furs Selendrile had set up for a bed, and the air was still the muggy warmness she hadn't experienced anywhere outside this cave except for on the warmest of days in the summer, right after a shower of rain. She couldn't see, and Alys suddenly realized that was the problem. The torches were out, and though one or the other sometimes sputtered into darkness when he wasn't around to take care of them, both had never gone out at the same time. It was almost… deliberate.

She was suddenly apprehensive. "Hello?" She whispered, immediately regretting the impulsive question. If there was someone or something in the cave with her, she had just notified them of her presence. Now, as she concentrated more on her surroundings, completely awake from fear, she could hear the slight sound of someone breathing on her left. She didn't know what time it was, but she didn't think she had slept the day away. That meant whoever it was, wasn't familiar to her, and definitely wasn't Selendrile.

A ghost of a whisper brushed against her bare left ankle. Alys jumped, gasping slightly, and heartbeat accelerating. For one crazy instant, she wondered if she was dealing with a ghost. If dragons were real, and fairies were real, wasn't it a possibility that other things were as well? Then, a dangerously edged voice called out in the darkness, almost hissing with the hardened whisper. "What are you wearing?"

Immediately, Alys felt her threatened body relax at the familiar sound of Selendrile's voice. She had slept longer than she had thought. Her moment of relaxation was quickly reversed back into tensed muscles and quickening of breath when his fingers slowly moved from her ankle and up the bare skin of her calf. She couldn't feel him move any of her regular layers of clothing out of the way, and she wondered at what exactly she was wearing too. She remembered crawling out of the bath, angry, confused, and saddened by his moodiness, and searching for something to wear. She also remembered slipping on that beautiful silk robe he had once told her was hers, but she had always thought to precious for her to ever put on. She hoped she hadn't ruined it with the water which had still been clinging to her skin. "The robe," she told him, wondering why he couldn't see that for himself if he was able to find her ankle so easily.

"Do you know what this robe signifies?" He didn't bother lowering his voice and it echoed through the empty cavern and over the stilled water in the lake. It came back to her, as if more than one person asked the question. Alys felt pressured into answering him.

"No," she said, voice quieted and muted by his hand raising so incredibly, painfully slow towards her knee. Her modesty screamed for her to move and shake him off, but she was paralyzed by something she would like to attribute to fear, but knew it wasn't.

"That you're mine," he told her, and though his voice lowered with a silent promise she couldn't understand, it still echoed off the walls of the cave. Mine. Mine. Mine. Or, maybe it was in her head.

"No," she protested. "I'm not… no." His hand reached her knee. She could now make out the familiar shape of his head peering down at her, and despite the dark it seemed as if his fey-eyes were gleaming with unnatural light.

"You're wearing my image next to your skin," he told her, referring to the bold picture of a golden dragon emblazoned in the silk. "What else could it mean?"

"I don't… know," she stuttered, shocked by not only his words, but also his movements. Selendrile's hand was now moving up the outside of her thigh, and though she hadn't thought it possible, the press of his touch seemed to be moving even more leisurely. She wondered, a bit too late to do anything about it, just how far off her body the robe had slipped, and how much she was showing eyes which could see perfectly in the dark.

"It means, Alys, that you are now one of my treasures." He told her, and she could hear his body shifting forward in the blackness as well as feel a slight shift in the air as he moved. "A pretty little thing for me to play with until I grow bored." She could see his sudden movements, but he was too quick for her to follow them. So when his other hand slid down the side of her waist, and catching the edge of the silk as it braced on the bed beneath her, she jerked at the sudden contact. The robe covering her torso moved from a combination of her movement and the way he was holding it down. The silk fell off her shoulders easily at the tug, parting at her chest and skimming over her breasts in a whispering caress. Alys gasped, knowing it was a deliberate move on his part. She felt exposed to him, even though the cloth still covered the necessary parts of her body.

Finally, she realized, that he was already starting to play with her. "I'm not a thing." Her voice was breathy, and she didn't really understand what was going on. Where was the Selendrile who was sweet, and nice, and caring? Had she underestimated his motives when he had asked her to stay?

"Don't worry," he told her. "I take very good care of my possessions." His hand, the one on her thigh she had almost forgotten about, found the edge of the robe part-way up her leg, and slid under the thin material. His body settled over hers, pressing the material of the robe into her skin. She could feel his words as breath against her jaw.

Alys's exhaled sharply, her stomach muscles clenching. This was wrong. She shouldn't be doing this. Selendrile wasn't her husband, and it was a sin in the eyes of her God to… "Stop," she said, her voice strong enough so that it created another echoing effect through the underground caverns.

He laughed at her, the vibrations moving through his skin and settling on hers. Alys whimpered out of fear and frustration, and he paused.

"Get up," he commanded, jumping to his feet, agilely and swiftly. His hands curled around her upper arms and he yanked her into a standing position. Alys was so disoriented for a moment, she didn't realize he had done what she had asked. Immediately, she tugged the neck of the silk robe closed, and held it in place with one hand. He moved back a step, and she could feel his eyes watching her carefully. She didn't know what he was looking for, as she was now covered head to toe. She could feel her still-damp hair curling wildly around her shoulders, and for the first time she was able to regret the mistake of grabbing the robe. She was only able to breathe normally when he moved away from her.

She was so confused about everything, and she wished she could ask him to explain it.

"Get dressed," he demanded, and though she still couldn't see, she felt and heard the sound of her clothing being thrown beside her. Since they landed with more of a plop than a sigh, she knew they were still soggy. She hesitated, wondering where he was. She wasn't about to change in front of him, especially after… that. "Now," he ordered her, and she wasn't able to tell where his voice was coming from.

"Could you turn around, or maybe leave for a bit?" She asked, lowering herself to the ground as she groped for her clothing.

She heard his frustrated sigh, and then the sound of his footsteps getting farther away. Once he was gone, she rapidly shed the robe, not wanting it to be touching her body anymore. The feeling of the silk still reminded her of his touch, and in some insane part of her subconscious, she blamed this whole thing on it. It was unnerving to be naked in the dark, the only one not able to see, and not completely positive there wasn't a dragon watching her every movement. Quickly, she grabbed her clothes, determining that they were, indeed, damp. She muttered an oath, figuring she was in enough trouble tonight already and may as well swear, and set about untangling the clothes and figuring out what was what.

Her pants, and the dress over it, settled cold and wet against her flushed skin. When she walked, they were heavier than usual, repeating the feeling in her heart. "I'm done," she said to the hopefully empty room. It was a minute before Selendrile re-entered, carrying a torch. Once, she had wondered where they all came from, as the cave never seemed to be without light, and had pictured him sneaking off to a hidden cave filled with thick wooden branches and breathing fire on them. Humans didn't usually breathe fire, but she thought if he could he would be doing so now as his angry walk took him towards the chest he had set up in the middle of the cavern room.

Selendrile tossed the torch to the ground, and for a second it flickered wildly. He grabbed a burlap sack usually used to carry food and stuffed a few things into it. His body blocked her view of what it was he put in the bag, but she had the distinct impression he was packing. Next, he moved over to the bed and shoved the only wool blanket she had into the sack with no thought to taking the time and folding it. Finally finished, he tied the top of the bag with rope, his harsh movements quick and efficient, though hinted with violence.

"Here," he said, pushing the closed sack into her arms. "This should be everything you need."

He stood in front of her, amethyst eyes unfathomable as he looked at her. One of his hands reached toward her face, stopping just short of touching. He paused, then let his arm fall quickly back to his side with a look akin to regret shifting across his face.

Alys felt tears well up in her eyes, recognizing his actions as a goodbye. "Please," Alys begged, immediately regretting going against him. She would let him possess her and toy with her any way he wanted if it meant he didn't leave her alone in the world. She had once thought she could live on her own in a strong moment of confidence, but she was no longer feeling as self-efficient. She couldn't survive without him. "Don't leave me. I'm scared."

He didn't answer, only watched, looking less and less like a human with ever blink of his strange eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said in a tiny voice, her desperation leading her to apologize for something she still felt she had every right to do. In that moment though, she really did wish she hadn't done anything.

"Don't say things you don't mean," he laughed sharply, making her wince.

"I do mean it," Alys insisted. "I don't want you to be angry with me."

He fell silent again. "You only acted as you should have. It is me who is to blame." Those were the last words he said to her, for a second later he expanded into a dragon in the blink of an eye. Tattered clothing fell from his body in rags. She had to crane her neck to still look into his eyes. She knew he was avoiding talking to her further, maybe because he thought she could change his mind. She didn't think he was as angry anymore, only saddened and resigned.

"I forgive you." Maybe, if she said the right thing, they could go back to normal. Though, she didn't know what normal was when it came to him, her and them. As a response to her words, his talon whisked dangerously through the air. Sharp claws bit into the gorgeous silk robe at her feet, ripping and shredding the fragile cloth in one swipe as they continued towards her. Alys automatically shut her eyes, thinking for a second that this was the end. He was going to kill her, and leave her body to rot in this humid cave amid the remains of silk. Instead, he pressed the palm of his dragon-hand against her body and gently wrapped the talons around her in a firm hold. With a shrill cry, reverberating through the caves so loudly she thought her ears were bleeding, Selendrile flapped his wings once and took off from the ground.

She didn't know what he thought he was doing, as she knew first-hand that he couldn't fit through the cave entrance in dragon form. He was heading towards the roof of stone, and she now wondered if he was going to kill them both. He picked up speed. Alys braced herself for impact. Instead of splatting against the top of the cave, Selendrile broke through the rocks with a well-aimed bang with his hard head. Boulders rained down around them, and she could feel the smaller fragments whipping against her exposed skin. He didn't even wait for the rocks to make impact with the floor and water below before he flew through the gap and into the cold night sky.

Alys shivered, the freezing air whipping against her dampened clothes and hair. He brought what used to be his other hand up and sheltered her between them like a little boy might do to a ladybug he had captured and didn't want to escape. The effect was unnerving, like a dangerous bubble not only keeping her safe, but not allowing her to see the outside world. Even after living in a cave, she was feeling rather claustrophobic. She did appreciate his thoughtfulness, though.

Though his grasp was more gentle and warmer with two hands, it was far less controlled. After bouncing around for a while, she thought she was going to hurl from the motion. "Selendrile. I'm going to be sick," she called out, wondering if he could hear her. Apparently he could, for he let her go completely. Alys screamed as she fell down, falling through the air, far too terrified to vomit. He recaptured her again within seconds, but it took her a few hours to stop shaking, until she didn't know what was caused by the cold and what was nerves. At least, now she could see the whitened land below them and as the sun began to rise, the snow glistened like a land of diamonds. "It's beautiful," she breathed, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to reply. She still loved the way he flew, soaring through the air and getting a different perspective on the entire world.

They flew over a town, Selendrile's wide wing-span creating distorted shadows in the early morning light. Alys couldn't see any people up and about, but she knew from experience that the work-day started far before sunup in the winter. There would be families inside the cottages and houses, soups boiling on the stove, and men hunting and chopping wood. It had been a while since she had seen another pure human being, and for a second she yearned for the homey feeling of life as she had known it. As soon as that thought flittered through her head, she realized how foolish it was. Likely, that was the plan Selendrile had for her, and if she had to choose, she would always pick his company, even over the events of today.

Selendrile dropped her suddenly, and she was plummeting to the ground at a rapid rate. She had a moment to panic at his deliberate release of her body, and then the next second she crunched into the thin layer of snow at the top of a small crest. They were slightly outside the middle-sized town he had just flown over, and Alys knew this was it. He had timed it perfectly, so that he wouldn't be able to turn into a human for a final goodbye.

"You can't just leave me here," she told him, her voice raising with anxiety.

The dragon had touched down at the bottom of the slight incline so he wasn't visible to the townsfolk. She was on par with his beautiful eyes. He cocked his head to the side and surveyed her.

"Please don't." For a moment, her inner strength scowled at her for begging him, but it was far outweighed by the sense of trepidation and her necessity not to be alone. He was like everyone else in her life – her mom, her friend Risa, her dad – they all left her. She was truly alone in the world.

With a spread of his wings and barely a sound, he took off from the ground and turned his back on her. Suddenly, Alys was furious. "Don't you dare leave me," she screamed after him, her hands searching automatically under a sparse layer of snow. Her fingers curled around a heavy jagged rock, and she lobbed it at him with as much force as she could. It hit one of his hind legs, and his long neck turned to look at her once before he rose higher, and into the low-hanging clouds. It barely even crossed her mind that he had entered her life with the throw of a rock, and left it the same way. Furious tears rolled down her cheeks, and she threw herself into the snow with a sob.

She cried for the breaking of her heart.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.June16.2006

AN: Not the end. Review.


	10. Chapter 10

To Lure a Dragon

Chapter 10

Alys wasn't sure how long she had remained curled in the snow, sobbing as silently as she could, and occasionally pounding her small, yet strong fists into the frozen ground until her hands were as raw as her throat. The tracks of tears running down her face didn't freeze, and she was sure Selendrile would have had some explanation if he was only there for her to ask. After she was done crying, she sat up, finally noticing her stiff body and soaked clothing. Alys hiccupped a few times, trying to stifle the urge to lapse back into the tears. She was starting to feel a bitter resentment towards the dragon who had given her so many good days in the midst of her difficult life. He was no better than the rest of them!

She stood, her body not really wanting to comply at first. She was frozen to a point of numbness, and she wasn't sure what came from the outer elements and what was from emotional distress, but her legs were wobbly and she felt dizzy. Slumping back to the ground, she dragged her knees up to her chest and sighed.

Then, she started plotting. She needed a plan before she went into the strange town , confronted strangers, and asked them if they would put her up for the rest of the winter in exchange for work. Would she go as a male or a female? Would she be orphaned? Should she ask for a wage or just a corner to sleep in? It would definitely be far easier for her to find an abandoned farm house somewhere in the country and make it her own, but she knew that if she didn't act now and immerse herself into a new group of people, she never would. She didn't want to become the crazy old witch living in the forest and muttering incantations to herself at the age of sixteen.

Pulling herself from the cold, wet snow once again, she tried to brush the frozen clumps off her skirt, but they seemed to me ingrained with the material until she could thaw off. Alys rummaged through the burlap sack Selendrile had left her, finding the dagger he had left her, probably to protect herself. Alys was pretty sure a puny little knife wouldn't protect her from very many things. Unsheathing it, she watched as the blade played with the light from the sun. She hadn't realized how much she had missed the daylight before now, as she squinted into the fields of reflecting, glittering snow. For the first time, she realized that maybe Selendrile had done her a favour by returning her back to the life she belonged to.

That didn't make her feel much better.

Alys grabbed a handful of the stiff cloth of her skirt, pulling it away from her body. She slipped the knife between the seams, working it until the threat connecting the top of the dress to the skirt started to unravel. For a moment, she had considered just hacking off the material, but that would be a waste. This way, she could remake the dress if she had to. Decision made. She would now be a boy of about twelve. Alys reached up and felt her hair. It had barely grown from the hack-job Selendrile had done on it. She swore to herself that once this was over, she was going to grow it back and never cut it again. She barely paused to realize that if she started to integrate herself into a town as a male, she would never reach that day.

Alys crested the hill, stumbling down the snow-covered embankment. She still felt rather weak from the amount of crying she had done, and vaguely she wondered when the last time she had eaten was. Probably not for a couple of days, and that was Selendrile's fault too. "Selendrile," she muttered as the vilest curse she knew, tempted to kick another mound of snow in her wrath. Remembering what happened the last time she did that, she refrained with only a scowl. The town loomed before her, looking far larger and intimidating than it had from the air. Alys flinched back, not feeling secure enough to go through with this. It was one thing to make new contacts when she had no intention of keeping them, but quite another when she was at the mercy of the kindness of these people.

She picked her courage up with a deep inhale of the cold crisp air, slinging her bag over her back. Fortified, she took her first step into the town which would become her second home. On the air, she could smell the salt of the sea, she realized for the first time, and her heart almost melted with the idea that Selendrile had ensured that she would at least see the ocean like he had promised during one of their aftermidnight sessions. The wind was raw against her tear-stained cheeks. No one bustled around the houses or storefronts as they would have in her hometown, and Alys immediately recognized that something was up.

"Hello?" She called. "Is anyone around?"

"They're all over at Farmer Garzo's house," a tiny voice answered. Alys swung around, almost upsetting the water pail a small boy was carrying.

"Where's that?" Alys asked.

The boy looked at her strangely, as if everyone should know where Farmer Garzo's house was. "The weird one over there," the boy answered, pointing down the street. He was a very helpful little tyke, Alys mused. He continued talking to her, his voice dropping to a whisper. "They're talking about the dragon."

"Dragon?" She asked, alarmed. So someone had seen her arrive with Selendrile this morning. That was actually fortuitous, she realized. She could definitely use the dragon sighting to her advantage. "Thank you," she told the child, starting off down the street. She didn't know how she was going to find this house she was looking for, as 'weird' encompassed a lot of things. She shouldn't have worried about it, as the moment she saw the place, she knew what the child meant by weird. The house just seemed off. The shadows were too long and deep and despite the natural chill in the air, she felt something deeper the moment she set eyes on the place. Alys really hoped that she wouldn't have to live there. Another thing which convinced her she had the right house were the numerous footsteps leading up to the front door. She followed the trail, stopping just before the door. Her heart was racing at the idea of facing a house full of strangers who would be passing judgment on her character the moment she crossed the threshold.

Closing her eyes, she pushed at the door. It creaked open ominously. Without realizing it, she was holding her breath as she waited for what would happen next. She had never considered herself a shy girl, as in her village, everyone knew everything about everyone, and in the days after her father's death she had been running off necessity and a sort of automatic response which gave the impression she was functioning fine, but in reality she was just a hollow husk of her true self. She wasn't sure who her true self was anymore.

"Hello?" Alys called out, announcing her presence to the people congregated in a room she couldn't discern yet. She could hear the murmuring of many voices, all speaking to each other as family and friends do at a gathering. Alys jerked the burlap sack back up her shoulder, adjusting her appearance the best she could in order to boost her inner self-confidence. She took a step towards the only lit room she could see in a surprisingly long and shadowed hallway. Just as she finally saw the first stranger in the house, her toe caught on the slightly elevated wood flooring of this room and she flailed forward. She didn't fall like a tree, smacking to the floor and lying there. Instead, she stumbled into the room at a greater and more haphazard entrance than she had planned for herself. Once the motion propelling her forward allowed her to stop, she turned and glared at the offending protrusion.

When Alys turned her eyes back to the room, about twenty eyes were on her and the owners were silently watching the intruder.

"Um. Hi," she muttered, impressing even herself with her outstanding verbal skills.

"What business have you here?" A booming voice questioned her. Alys carefully watched the villagers, wondering which one had the authoritarian voice, but none of them seemed to have moved their lips. They didn't jump nervously when the voice called out like she did, either, so Alys knew they had been expecting it.

"The dragon," Alys blurted out her answer. The pressure she was feeling to speak was like when the inquisitor (?) had set her trial. Once the words started pouring out of her mouth, she couldn't stop them. She had always been taught that it was a sin to lie, and yet here she was telling all these people a fabricated story. "My older brother and I were traveling along the road, looking for some work and a place to spend the winter. We was camped out on the side of the road, when the dragon attacked around dawn. He scooped my brother up in his mouth and flew away."

"Then what?" Someone from the crowd called out, likely mistaking this for a tale about a hero.

"Then I cried like a baby for hours." Alys put her hands up, palm facing the ceiling. She always had been good at talking to people after she got through the initial fear. "You see, he was the only one I had left. Mammy, pappy, and now him are all gone to the holy gates." She added some of the Christian religion in there so they would identify easier with her. During the weeks she had spent with Selendrile, he had educated her on the way to speak correctly, and she found herself reverting back to her old accent and grammar now that she was faced with people like herself, or at least like she used to be.

"Was the dragon big?"

"What were the teeth like?"

"Was there any blood?"

"Lets kill us a dragon!"

This pronouncement was met by a resounding agreement of "yeah!"s.

"Stop!" One clear voice ran through the mob. "The dragon has never done anything to this town but protect us. We have not had pillagers from the sea, or wild animals from the forest visit us since he took residence. I implore you, do not anger him, or we are all in danger." A girl slightly older than Alys stepped out of the gathered people. Her hand was protectively and habitually curled around a slightly protruding stomach.

"Kill the dragon!" Someone started up the chant. Soon, it was echoing through the house like a thundering roar. Alys realized the mistake in her lie. When she had first heard the town was being threatened by a dragon, she had assumed Selendrile had reneged on their agreement for him not to eat humans. Now, in her anger against her scaly companion, she had set a mob upon some hapless dragon. Of course, it was more than likely that the dragon would just eat these people and be done with it, than it was for anyone to actually harm him, but that wasn't the point. Alys closed her eyes in guilt.

"Not today," the authoritarian voice boomed out from seemingly the walls. "The time will come. Today, we must extend our hospitality towards this youngster and show him we are not the barbarians are neighbours to the north believe of us. Lad, what is your name?"

If Alys hadn't known they were talking about her, she might have missed the question. She wasn't used to being mistaken as a male, even dressed up like one. Jacko, her mind told her. You were Jacko last time. She remembered how much difficulty she had remembering the name, though. People would say it, and she wouldn't hear them call out to her because she didn't associate it with belonging to her. "Ellis," she told them. "I am called Ellis."

"I'll take the boy in," a well-dressed man stepped forward. He looked kindly and everything Alys could have hoped for in a surrogate caretaker, but there was just something about the way he stared at her, the glint in his eyes and the language of his body, that sent a knell of alarm racing across her skin in a revolted shiver. She would turn down the hospitality of this town if it meant staying with this man, and she would do it without a backward glance. She owed them nothing, and while her only tie to this place was that it was Selendrile's drop-off point, she didn't care if he knew where she was or not.

She opened her mouth to refuse the offer, but the woman who had spoken earlier beat her to it. "No, please," the pregnant girl implored. "I could use some help with my pregnancy. You are all aware of the difficulties I have been having carrying my first child. Aid for the winter would help a great dea…"

"Conrad, can't you control yer wife?" The repulsive feeling man interrupted. "If ya don't show her her place, then I will…"

A hulking man stepped forward, and Alys immediately identified him as the strong, warrior type for the village. He looked torn between whether to confront the man, or punish his wife. The decision was taken from him.

"Enough!" The authoritative voice yelled, and Alys still couldn't figure out which of the men in the room was talking. They all seemed to pause, listening to their orders. If she didn't know any better, she would say the voice was coming from the walls. There was definitely something strange going on. She'd been living with strange for the past few weeks. It didn't phase her that she couldn't tell the origin of the person speaking, what did bother her was how all the townspeople listened. "Lora's point is valid. She and Conrad shall take the boy."

Selendrile had taught Alys that listening to the tone and accent a person afflicted in his speech could tell a lot about them. She noted that Lora seemed better spoken than a woman from a small town should. She also realized that the mysterious commanding man did not have an accent of any kind that she could hear. What little she had heard from the other townfolk, they spoke as people from the southern part of the country by the sea were supposed to. The anomalies intrigued her. That was a small part of the reason she was rejoicing at Lora's offer and the agreement from who Alys had assumed was Farmer Garzo.

"Furthermore," The Voice continued, "I agree that we should take the steps necessary to keep the dragon at bay. We will not, however, search him out. Conrad. See to it that the training begins anew. Now. Let us speak about the crop yield this year, since we are gathered here."

"Ellis?" a soft voice questioned at her shoulder. Alys jumped. She had been so enraptured in what The Voice had been saying, she hadn't noticed Lora walk up beside her. "I am growing weary. If you will accompany me home, we can get you settled and diner on the table before the men finishing speaking."

Alys nodded, allowing Lora to guide her towards the front door. After coming out of the well-lit room, the shadowed hallway looked even longer and darker. Alys couldn't help but shiver.

"Creepy isn't it?" Lora asked as she grabbed a threadbare woolen shawl from a peg on the wall. Alys wasn't surprised to see that once it had probably been far more refined and lovely than anything produced by weavers here. Lora's past had layers of secrecy, and Alys was intrigued. "Have you not a jacket?"

Alys shook her head. "I'll be fine. I am numb to the cold today."

Lora nodded as if she could understand that. "It is not far," she told Alys, opening up the heavy wooden front door with a sigh. Alys immediately felt guilty for not getting to the door first, and vowed that she would make it her mission to make Lora's pregnancy easier.

The two woman left the house, trudging through the snow. Wet flakes had started to fly while they were in the house, and now the ground was heavy and sticky. Alys barely noticed the difference, but Lora stopped and tiredly rubbed her lower back.

"You're tired," Alys stated, immediately feeling foolish for saying something so obvious. "Is it much farther." Immediately, she took Lora's elbow and tried to support the girl as much as she could.

"No. It is the tinsmith store in the middle of those three buildings," Lora answered.

Alys couldn't help but stop, standing still for one moment as she took in the irony and coincidence it was that she had planned to come into this town and avail herself to the tinsmith first in the hopes she could be taken on as an apprentice, and instead they had found her. "My father worked with tin," Alys said conversationally as she helped Lora across the street. "He taught me a bit of the trade. Maybe I can be more useful to you than you realized."

Lora laughed, but it was forced. "My husband does not have much time to work in the store anymore," she said. "He spends his days with a sword in his hand reliving the glory of the great war." They reached the front door to the shop and Lora pushed it open. There was the large firepit in the middle of the room, so similar to the one her father had that Alys could feel the tears begin to well in her eyes. In this house it was bricked and mortared into a large fireplace with could double as a stove. It was evident that at one time, this had been a prosperous business. On one side of the great fireplace was a bed. Lora gestured towards the opposite side of the hearth. "You may sleep there."

Alys nodded her thanks, letting her sack drop into the place Lora had gestured to.

"I'm sorry for the lack of privacy," Lora continued. "We have bedrooms upstairs, but they are too cold in the winter. When this was my father's shop, there used to be fires roaring in almost every room, and we were cozy…" Lora broke off her speech as if she just became aware that she was reminiscing about a past that was best left forgotten in present circumstances. She slumped into a wooden chair, as if suddenly exhausted. Alys didn't know whether it was from memories or her pregnancy, but the other girl suddenly looked fragile and close to breaking.

Alys bustled forward, grabbing the shall Lora had placed on a peg and tucking it back around the girl. "Why don't you rest? I'll see to supper."

"I put a stew on this morning," Lora whispered, staring down at her hands.

"Then let me get you some," Alys offered gently, already moving to pick up a plate from the table.

"No!" Lora cried, her head snapping up. "I cannot eat until Conrad returns."

Alys wisely said nothing. Though her father hadn't been that type of man, she had grown up in a town full of domineering husbands and brothers. Wordlessly, she handed Lora a tin-mug of water, only pausing briefly to take in the beautiful leaf design etched into the base. Once Lora accepted the drink, Alys went over to her corner of the room and emptied her possessions to the floor. Sure enough, Selendrile had packed the last of the loaf of bread and apples he had procured from her. She broke off a piece of the bread and brought it over to Lora. "This is left over from my travels," she told the pregnant woman. "Your husband need not know about it."

As she predicted, Lora was strong-willed enough to realize the truth in her words. She took the bread from Alys and looked at it for a moment before breaking off a piece and lifting it to her lips. She washed it down with a gulp of water. "Thank you," Lora said, and for the first time Alys noticed that humility didn't really suit the woman, nor did it seem to come naturally. There was a sense of pride there, stronger than any Alys had ever seen in another human.

"No," Alys said. "Thank you."

"I think you'll become like a sister to me," Lora told her, once she had finished off the snack.

Alys smiled back at her, no longer as worried about Lora collapsing from exhaustion or hunger. She stood, knees creaking as she swayed. She hadn't realized she had been crouched in front of Lora long enough for her legs to get pins and needles. Once she had able to take a step without falling, she hurried over to her corner of the room and stuffed everything but the blanket back into the sack. As she was spreading the thick wool out over the floor to signify her bed, metal clanked from underneath it. Alys grabbed a small cloth package from the floor, and it jingled as she moved. The sound was familiar to her – the clang of coins hitting together. She glanced back to Lora, finding the girl nodding off on the hard-backed chair.

Without giving into her curiosity yet, Alys stuffed the coinbag down the tight inner shirt she was also using to disguise her sex. She was still furious with Selendrile for leaving her, so the money was an unwelcomed favour which had her frowning in confusion. Maybe, he had provided for her, so she could pay for lodgings during the winter, or maybe he had merely left her a few coins. For the first time, her fury at him abated long enough so she wondered what had gone through his mind when he had lashed out and abandoned her.

Luckily, that train of thought was interrupted before she could begin wool-gathering. "Lora?" The husband Conrad called out as he entered the house. Carelessly, he tracked snow into the floor of the house, and Alys immediately disliked the man. Lora jumped to her feet, coming out of her snooze so quickly, Alys didn't think it was good for the baby. Instead of greeting his wife, Conrad belligerently said "I'm hungry," and sat at the table waiting to be fed.

Lora bustled over to the stove and began scraping stew onto a plate. She set it down in front of her husband and stepped back to the stove to serve the remainder of the meal. Alys recognized the way the serving spoon scraped along the side of the pot to mean there wasn't much of the food left.

"Let the lad eat first," Conrad ordered, mouth full of stewed venison and potatoes.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Alys told him. "But I don't feel much like eating today after…." She trailed off to let him infer what he wanted.

Conrad shrugged, dismissing her eloquent speech as if she wasn't really there. Alys grabbed her blanket off the floor and curled into fetal position under it. Her stomach rumbled, but she had gone far hungrier before now. She reigned in her tears, backing up against the fireplace for warmth. Only her back felt the effects of the fire, and she missed Selendrile's cave. She tried to think of something else, anything else.

Lora seemed nice. Conrad seemed not. That weird guy at the town meeting had seemed slightly menacing. She should ask Lora about that. Alys almost bolted up in bed as she realized something. Conrad and the townspeople all assumed she was a male, but Lora had called her a sister. Alys hadn't even noticed at the time. Lora had seen through the disguise immediately, Alys realized, and had tried testing her. Alys had failed that one. If she was going to successfully be a boy, she was going to have to be more careful.

She laid on the hard ground far after the married couple went to bed. Her life was so different now than it had been less than twenty-four hours before, and Alys couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had just given into Selendrile's touch.

©RelenaFanel.July7.2006

I'm sorry this is a week late. I'm just starting to get used to work. It seems like the entire month of June went by with me in a daze of backpain and sore feet. Anyway. I thank all of you who reviewed this story along the way. You helped me achieve a writing goal that I've had for years last chapter, and I thank you all from the bottom of my slightly-pervy heart.

Review.


	11. Chapter 11

**To Lure a Dragon**

Chapter 11

_If I was naming the chapters, I would call this one 'Adaptation', but since I am not, you'll have to make due with the generic 'Ch.11'._

* * *

Alys awoke the next morning far before the sun rose. Her body and mind was still used to sleeping in the cave, and she was immediately disoriented by the chill creeping along her back. The one wool blanket Selendrile had provided for her was far less warm or soft than the furs she had become accustomed to. Upon opening her eyes and panicking for a second as she took in the strange room, she managed to calm herself with a few deep breaths. The coldness was just another reminder than he had left her alone in the strange world, and in her bitterness, she relished it. It reminded her of life before the comforts he had given her, and she could almost imagine that the golden dragon had never existed at all. She closed her eyes, snuggling under the blanket the best she could. If she was lying flat, it didn't cover her from head to foot, so she curled into fetal position.

Cheek rubbing against the wool as she shifted, Alys finally noticed something strange about the cloth. Instead of it being scratchy against her face, it was smooth and cool, gliding over her delicate skin like a caress. She opened her eyes and frowned, sitting up and letting the blanket pool around her waist. In the dim light from the dying fire, she could see the sharp golden color of a dragon head surrounded by a splash of red. Somehow, a scrap of the robe she had been wearing a little more than twenty-four hours ago had attached itself to the prickles of the cloth. Alys's eyes drew closer together in a sad frown. She ran her hands over the tattered piece of silk, reverently touching the depiction of his face. A tear dropped from the corner of her eyelashes, trailing down the curves of her cheek. She grabbed the silk, gathering it into a fist and crumpling the fragile material. She couldn't help but hate and blame that robe for all her problems.

She moved to toss the tattered scrap into the fire, and gleefully watch it burn, but at the last second her fingers refused to let go. Alys gathered her knees to her chest and stared at her fist. She felt exhausted – the kind of mental tiredness that doesn't go away with sleep. With quick fingers, she pulled the money bag out of her shirt and stuffed the silk depiction of a dragon into. She couldn't look at it, but she also couldn't get rid of it. Without clanking together the coins, she stuffed the small bag back between her bound breasts. Her treasures were now as safe as she could make them, resting next to her heart.

With a yawn, she stood up and began the morning chores. She wasn't familiar with this house, but she did know what needed to be done in the morning. Before doing that, however, she needed to pee. Alys gathered her blanket around her and wandered out the front door. She circled around the house, instinctively knowing the outhouse was probably in the back. The sun was starting to lighten the sky, and as she rounded the house, she breathed in the cool, crisp air. In the days before Selendrile, she had loved the peacefulness of the dawn. No one was awake, and it was like she was the only one in the world. Her breath puffed in small clouds and the cold air bit at her nose. She felt alive and vital, a swallowing sense of peace expending from her center. The effect lasted only a second, but it was long enough to remind her how life should be.

Alys scrambled through the snow, finding the well-trodden path to the outhouse. She did her business quickly, unable to block out the smell of other peoples' waste despite the helpful fact it was half frozen. That was one thing she hadn't missed about living in humanity – the stench. When she was finished and far enough away, she took a deep breath and wiped her hands against her pants. A year ago, it wouldn't have phased her, but right now she felt somewhat dirty and wished she could take a bath. Who knew how nice cleanliness felt? She barely even noticed her feelings towards Selendrile had morphed from extreme bitterness into something akin to nostalgia.

The moment she walked back into the house, she immediately felt the difference in the air. The atmosphere was tense, and Alys immediately felt unwelcomed. Both Lora and her husband were awake, the woman was moving around the hearth, kneading bread and starting to prepare the daily meals, while the husband was sitting insolently at the table drinking something steaming in a cup. A lump of day old bread was clutched in one of his hands, and he was watching his wife go about her duties.

"Feed the lad," he grunted, shoving a piece of his breakfast into his mouth.

Lora swung around, cleaning her hands on her apron. She rummaged through a burlap sack on the table, one similar to the one Selendrile used to horde her own food, and pulled out a hunk of bread. Alys smiled her appreciation, breaking off an even smaller chunk once Lora's back was turned once more and shoved the excess back into the bag. Gnawing on the hard crust, Alys glanced around the room for the water. At home, she had kept a bucket with a ladle around just for drinking, but she couldn't see that here. This new life was sometimes so similar to her old one, she was surprised when one small detail was out of place.

"Send the lad down with the other children," Conrad gave one final order to Lora before departing out the door with loud footsteps and an even louder slam of the door. Immediately, the weight pushing on the room seemed to ease and Alys was able to breathe again.

"Where?" She asked Lora, finally realizing that Conrad's departing words were about her.

"He's in charge of the local militia. Before he took over, they were a hopeless group of men with pitchforks and knives but no real skills. He's been training and practicing with them every day." On the surface, Lora sounded proud of her husband like a dutiful wife should, but Alys could detect an undercurrent of regret and hostility in her words. "The town believes his ideas are revolutionary, especially his idea to start teaching the boys how to fight at a young age."

"You don't think it's a good idea?" Alys asked, getting up from her seat to help knead dough.

"Our town was peaceful and happy. Now we've gotten cocky."

"Does this have anything to do with the dragon?" Alys blurted out, before she could stop the question from emerging from her lips. She didn't want to talk about dragons anymore, and she really didn't want to bring up the lie she had told the night before. Not only was she not sure she could keep up the pretence of having a brother eaten by a dragon, but Lora might be the only one in the entire town who questioned her story.

"The dragon always protected us," Lora told her with a saddened sigh. "When we couldn't protect ourselves. Now, the men think it would be a great testament to their skills if they could slay it."

"Are they nuts!" Alys breathed, blood running cold. Oh God, what had she done? Had she put Selendrile in danger?

Lora fell silent, lost in thought. However, her motions with the dough turned violent in a way that had nothing to do with mixing the concoction of grains.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Alys offered once the bread was baking in the dug-out oven over the hearth. "Water? Firewood?"

"We could use both," Lora explained with a weary sigh. "Conrad usually doesn't have time for much work once he gets home, and I…" Lora broke off. "Gorge and Helen, the family next door, help out occasionally," Lora sounded resigned, and Alys knew how accepting the generosity of neighbours impacted one's pride first hand.

"I can go grab some water if you direct me towards a stream," Alys offered. She thought for a second, then added "and a pail."

"Over there," she pointed to a bucket sitting in next to the fire. Lora smiled wanly. "I've been melting snow."

Alys knew first-hand how surprisingly little water came out of a load of snow. She was suddenly overcome by an extreme dislike for this woman's husband. It was obvious that Lora's pregnancy was difficult for her, but Alys didn't know whether she was tired because of the baby, or because of the slave-labour she endured daily. It was normal life, she realized, something she witnessed and experienced every day for the first fifteen years of her life. Two months, a little bit of impromptu education, and the different ideals of a dragon later, and Alys found she actually thought differently than she used to – than most people still did. She didn't know if new standards were a good thing or not, just like it was impossible to tell who was right and who was wrong, but she didn't want to go back to being ignorant. "Where is a water source?" She asked Lora, somewhat harshly with these new realizations swimming around in her head like a bug drowning in a stream.

"Keep walking past the privy and there should be a trail through the woods."

Though the answer was somewhat vague, Alys grabbed the bucket and hurried out the door. She really did like Lora, but the conversation was starting to become a strain. She didn't know these people, but she felt as though she didn't fit in amidst them anymore. The familiar resentment towards Selendrile bubbled up, but she quickly dismissed it. Alys scurried through a field, the snow crunching beneath her boots. The way the cold air punched against her lungs hurt after she spent so much time in the warm caves, but she didn't pay it any heed. In fact, she sped up. By the time she reached the woods, and found the trail exactly where Lora had described it, Alys was sure that what she felt was real and not a paranoia.

Someone was watching her.

As subtly as she could, Alys stopped at the treeline and looked into the barren forest. Though the trees were leafless, mere skeletons of branches and bark, she couldn't see another creature – human or not – hiding in the covering. Turning around, as if to take in the view of the shimmering snow and town resting behind her, Alys then looked back to find no one in that direction either, sheltering her eyes with one arm. Not for the first time, she wondered what was wrong with this town. She hardly ever saw anyone bustling around doing chores, or chatting with neighbours like they were wont in her hometown. With a sigh, she convinced herself that the feeling of eyes following her every move was, in fact, in her head. Alys pushed into the forest, walking along a well-used trail. The branches threw strange shadows around her, and as she moved she was convinced that the sun was moving as well.

Maybe, she realized with a start, it was because she hadn't seen an actual day in a while. Her eyes were still extremely sensitive to the sun. She hadn't realized all the small adaptations she would have to make, her mind had been too focused on the one large one. The woods were making Alys nervous, and she kept having flashbacks to being almost lured into faerydom. That day in the woods had been tantalizing, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to resist without Selendrile's strength by her side. She wanted, oh so badly, to be lured and captivated by the fey, and she supposed in a way she already was.

Suddenly, Alys kicked a tree. Smattering of snow fell on her head, but she paid it now head. Frig, she was wallowing. Her every thought seemed to always go back to him. It was like he was an obsession. She hated him for that.

Picking up speed, even though her breath was already choppy and she could taste blood in every inhale, Alys finally broke through the strip of forest and found herself facing a frozen stream. She may have missed it entirely, if the tracks didn't stop, if the forest hadn't suddenly opened up to show a wide, snow covered expanse of nothing, and if a hole hadn't already been chopped out of the ice. Ok, the only way she would have missed it is if she was too lost in her thoughts to see anything at all, which was distinctly possibly in her state, but other than that the place was obviously a stream.

Alys dropped to her knees, slamming the bucket into the thin film of ice covering the opening to the water. This would be so much easier if there was a well like they had at home. She submerged the bucket into the water, slopping freezing water on the cuffs of her shirt. Alys shivered, fingers going numb within seconds. Carefully, she lifted the pail from the water, starting back towards the house with her heavy load. By the time she walked out of the forest, her fingers were raw, barely holding on to the wood, and she was starting to see the benefits of melting snow little by little. Half the water from the bucket had spilled out when she had tripped over a tree root.

Entering the house this time was like a blast back to the cave. Alys dropped the bucket on the table, less gently than she had intended and caused Lora to jump out of a nap she was taking in one of the hard-backed chairs. "I'm starting to see the benefits of melting water," Alys said crossly.

Lora looked amused, a thin smile pulling at the edges of her lips.

Alys stomped over to the fire, again her heavy movements were more because of the stiff coldness in her legs than true frustration. She warmed her hands against the open flame for a second, remembering how she used to do as many chores as she could without rest, so she could finish quickly. In theory, it would stop her body from relaxing so it was difficult to get started again, and later she would have more time to just sit. Of course, work never seemed to be done. "How can I get some firewood?"

"There's no time," Lora grabbed the hunk of bread Alys had replaced at breakfast and shoved it into her hands. She herded Alys towards the front door, swinging it open and looking up and down the street. "Steven!" She called out to a young boy of around eight. The blond cherub looked over at Lora and the stranger with her with curiousity.

"This the new guy?" He asked, looking up at Alys.

"This is Ellis," Lora explained, and once the child nodded, Alys realized that though she had yet to witness it, gossip got around this town just as quickly as it did at home.

"I'll show him where the training ground is," young Steven offered, immediately catching on to why Lora had called him over. Alys couldn't help but like the child. She followed him out the door, wondering if she was supposed to eat the bread now or later. Within seconds she realized it was a foolish thing to wonder about, especially once Steven spoke again. "Conrad said I'm natural with knives." He boasted.

Alys was pretty sure he didn't mean chopping vegetables either. It was surprising to think of such a small, angelic looking boy to be welding a knife. "That's great," she forced out with an equally fake smile.

"How about you?"

"I dunno," she answered truthfully.

"Here we are," Steven said with a grin. He didn't need to make the announcement, as Alys had already figured it out. The young boys were separated into sections according to skill, she assumed, since the ages seemed to be mingled. Alys paused, feeling that sense of being out of place again. Not only was she a stranger in this town, but she was also a woman. "You're over there with the other pussies." He pointed to a group of hopeless looking children, most probably sickly and on death's door.

"Excuse me?" Alys screeched, disturbed to hear such a foul word coming out of this child's mouth.

"They're the wimps who can't fight worth a damn," Steven explained, scurrying over to his designated area.

Alys hesitated, then joined her group of fellow losers. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be moving up in the ranks any time soon. The boys she joined, all of varying ages but none older than her current age – real age, that was, all eyed her with distrust. "Uhm, hi." She greeted them with a hesitant grimace. "I'm Ellis."

"New meat," a stocky kid with a surprisingly deep voice said. Alys pegged him as the ringleader of this troupe. He hulked up to her, his steps slow, and stretched out his hand for a handshake. Just as Alys was about to offer her own hand back, the guy struck with surprising speed for a fat kid and nailed her in the jaw. Alys stumbled backwards, eyes widening comically and hand coming up to gingerly touch her face.

"Ow," she muttered, and they all snickered.

"New guy's a girl," the ringleader said, witty as always. He turned towards his companions for their input. "Lets get her."

A beanpole of a boy wheezed his agreement.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaawr!" The fat guy growled, opening his arms up wide and running towards Alys at full speed. His run was more of a waddle, and he wasn't nearly so quick with his feet as he was with his hands. She looked at him in surprise, not knowing whether to start laughing now or later. She had enough time to debate the issue, finally side-stepping away at last minute. He twirled, arm connecting with her back with that swiftness again. Alys fell to the side, and as luck would happen, her leg accidentally smacked him in the stomach. Fatso fell to the ground and promptly burst into tears. Alys, beside him in the snow and probably far more bruised, had to bite her lip and look away before she started giggling.

"Ah, new kid is here." A man finally walked into the group and was largely ignored by all his wards. Alys wondered if she would still be called the new kid even if she ended up staying here until she was fifty. "I'm Gorge."

"Neighbour Gorge?" Alys asked, looking up at him from the ground. He was a short rangy man, his body stature somewhat reminding her of Selendrile. Even though he was apparently teaching the losers, she knew not to underestimate him. He had this quality about him that made her think that he could do things with the weapons strapped to his body that would make a warmonger like Conrad cringe away.

"That's right," he boomed, grabbing a knife from a belt on his side and tossing it down to her. "Lets see what you've got."

Alys stared at the knife handle, debating within herself whether she wanted to pick it up or not. She knew that this would lead to a knew chapter in her life, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to open up those particular opportunities for a future. She felt the strong urge to take advantage of this chance she had to learn more than Alys the tinsmith's daughter ever would have been able to. With a hesitant hand she reached towards the wood and steel, and grabbed it.

Then she lunged without a second thought.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.July22.2006

And life moves on with Alys. This chapter is wrought with things that are symbolic and/or have meaning for future chapters and previous chapters, and yet at the same time it is hastily put together. I wish it wasn't but I must admit that I wrote it in a few hours, posted it without a read-over, and didn't give the contents as much thought as I should have. Bad me.

Note: I'm sensing some very Mulan-esque scenes coming up. Barring, of course, those with Chang because Alys isn't about to fall for Gorge (Also barring those with musical entertainment, because I can't sing for crap and therefore Alys is not going to burst into random song).


	12. Chapter 12

_**To Lure a Dragon**_

_Chapter 12_

In the next few weeks, Alys became surprisingly proficient with a knife. She moved up the ranks during the hour or so the boys were taught how to utilize the weapon efficiently until she graduated to sword-fighting. She stayed at the bottom wrung there, not able hold the wooden practice sword or move it without leaving herself wide open to attack. Gorge would shake his head ruefully every time she was knocked on her back by a smaller child, and wonder where his promising little knife-wielder went. Conrad simply yelled and pushed her until she was in tears and soaked from the cover of wet snow on the ground. The same could be said for her skill with a bow and arrow. She could knock it, aim, but when it came to releasing the arrow it never went where she wanted it to. The highlight of these lessons was when she very narrowly missed hitting Conrad's foot. She thought Gorge may have smothered a grin along with her, but she had been far too busy making sure no one else noticed it had been her to shoot the projectile.

Time at home with Lora became the only thing that kept her sane. She had gotten soft lounging around in that cave for a month, and the tasks she did in the span of a day slowly made up for the sin of sloth. It became quickly obvious to her that the tinsmith business Conrad ran was actually Lora, and the other woman was in no condition to make even the smallest button. Alys was filled with hatred and loathing towards her surrogate father for neglecting everything but his own ideal of a town of warriors and still expecting life to flourish around him.

She woke up some mornings to Lora sobbing by the fire, having crawled out of her conjugal bed so as not to disturb her volatile husband from his precious sleep. On these mornings, Alys herself sometimes woke from her nightmares to find that they were still happening. She wished to the point of fervent denial that she could just wake up from this bad dream and find everything back to the way it had been, only she didn't know which when she wanted back. Upon figuring out that she'd rather Selendrile back than her father, she was the one who awoke far before dawn to cry over her act of betrayal.

Life settled into a routine of work, soldier play, helping Lora and avoiding Conrad the best she could.

"We could just leave," Alys exclaimed one morning after Conrad had snarled about there not being enough food on the table and that 'the lad' was ruining his sex life. Of course, he hadn't quite worded it as politely as that. Lora had asked what he expected after the baby was born, and he had pushed her back against a table for her insolence. Lora looked at Alys, surprise at the suggestion evident in her face, but not the way Alys had expected it to be. A woman did not think of leaving her husband, as he was the breadwinner, provider, protector, and she was obligated to honour and obey him. For not the first time, Alys noticed how liberal Lora's thoughts were, as the other woman had looked startled at only Alys voicing the suggestion and not for the idea itself.

"No, I couldn't," Lora said quietly. "My life is here." She touched the expanding sign of her pregnancy tenderly, staring vacantly beyond Alys and into the fire. "I made a promise to someone," she explained looking into the fire with a faraway look in her eyes. "I'm not talking about my marriage vows either."

"Then what?" Alys asked, immediately curious. Lora seemed to be an enigma to her. She thought differently than the carbon copies of other woman Alys knew and grew up with, and it made her feel as if she were still learning a bit from the progressive-thinking of Selendrile. The longer she was away from him, the more she noticed what he had taught her and how different she was from everyone else now, as if blinders had been removed from her eyes in a breath of dragon-fire. Also, the more she resided in this house, the better her relationship with him seemed, as well as the more she noticed strange little things about the woman who took her on as a temporary daughter. It started with Lora's casual awareness that Alys was a girl, and just seemed to continue every day.

Lora became quiet with Alys question, or maybe she hadn't heard her at all, eyes still staring into the fire as if she could conjure her heart's desire from the flames if she just concentrated hard enough.

"Conrad is a strong man," she said at last.

Alys thought that was the nicest thing which could be said about him. Personally, she thought of him as a sort of villain. She reflected on this all through kneading bread and chopping last harvest's vegetables for yet another stew. There really was nothing different about Conrad than other men. The problem was either her own perception, or maybe the opposite figure he was to Lora or Selendrile. Alys didn't know, and really, she didn't care, but thinking of someone else's problems helped her from dwelling on her own fate. She had moved on from being angry at Selendrile to being saddened by his disappearance from her life, and more than a little resigned to the fact she had pushed him away and would never see him again. It scared her how much that mattered and made her heart constrict in pain akin to how it felt when she thought of her father.

"Are you ok?" Alys asked Lora as she put on her woolen sweater. The pregnant woman was more listless today that usual, and Alys worried about her constantly. One of the mysteries surrounding Lora was the sense of heartbreak surrounding every move she made. Alys may not have been able to identify the signs, but she also had experienced her share of that within the past couple of months. Lora nodded, and Alys grabbed one of the tin mugs and made her drink some water before she left to play warrior. Alys arrived late to the combat field and was lucky that Gorge was the only one who noticed she hadn't arrived yet.

Practice went the same as usual, and like always she trudged back to the house with more bruises, some loss of pride, very little newly acquired skill, and a resentment towards Conrad for no particular reason other than he was the one in charge of the activities. She didn't know what made her look down, but she noticed the strange set of footprints heading into the house just seconds before Lora's surprisingly strong voice carried through the wooden panels.

"They aren't for sale," she said, sounding agitated and firm at the same time. Alys crept around the side of the building and crouched beneath the window. "The answer this time is the same as last."

"But dear, you know me husband loaned yer husband some finesses. We'll accept them as full payment. If not, then gimme the full two gold."

"I know Conrad borrowed _finances_," Lora replied, stressing the word the other woman had mispronounced. Alys grinned a bit at her audacity and stifled to urge to glance through the window. "However, the agreement was payment in increments at the end of every month. Therefore, I do not have to give you a thing for another two weeks."

Alys figured Lora picked up her vocabulary just to confuse the stranger.

"I'll give you 'til tomorrow to decided. Then all yer things belongs to my husband if you don't pay up."

Alys heard the movements of people standing within the house and quickly edged her way back to the front of the building. She crouched behind a pile of firewood, waiting for the visitor to leave the house. She expected a tall stern woman with a disapproving frown and pursed lips, or maybe a short stout one with an ugly sneer, what she didn't expect was a small girl so plain looking she could have been a boy if not for the long hair and dress displaying minimal bosom. In short, this forward-speaking, not-too-bright woman would have made a better Ellis than Alys did.

Quickly, after the demanding interloper left, Alys hurried into the house to find Lora sitting at the kitchen table sobbing. "Who was she?" Alys asked quickly. "I heard the conversation and she shouldn't be able to just waltz into your house like she owns it already and order you around." Alys's words were harsh and almost shrill as she burned with ire at the injustice of it all.

"She's Odo's wife."

"Odo?" Alys asked, not familiar with the name. Even though she had been living here for what seemed like years of stifled emotions and tense situations, she still wasn't familiar with most of the people in the town.

"He's the one who wanted you to live with him at first. He's the richest man in town now."

Alys knew enough to be able to fill in 'now that my father has died' to the end of Lora's sentence. Lora didn't like to talk about the past, which only served to heighten the mystery surrounding her, but it had always been clear that she came from wealthier stalk than what Conrad forced her to live in now. Alys could see that just by looking at the former opulence of the tinsmith shop that life hadn't always been like this for Lora. She had heard rumours about the girl once living in a larger manor on the outskirts of town. Now that she had a little more information, she wondered if this Odo now owned that. Despite these thoughts circling around her head, Alys smiled and said "that would explain why she looked like a little boy."

Lora looked taken back for a moment, then she grinned. "So you noticed too. I've been wondering over your reaction that night in Farmer Garzo's house."

"That man gave me the creeps. He felt… wrong, almost evil."

Lora nodded, looking far less pale and on the verge of collapsing out of grief than she had a few moments ago. Alys congratulated herself for bringing enough normality to the conversation to allow Lora to remove herself a bit from the mental strain the conversation with Mrs. Odo had put her in. "He is evil," she whispered quietly, getting up from her seat and shuffling over to the fireplace in the middle of the shop. "I'd like to show you something."

Alys watched, barely able to conceal her curiosity and then awe as Lora removed a brick in the middle of the hearth and removed a small metal box. The box itself was breathtaking, engraved with such gorgeous designs, Alys had never seen an equal in all her time with her father or with Selendrile. It simply took her breath away to think that a person could be talented enough to create something so fine and delicate.

"My father was not only a tinsmith. He didn't enjoy working with menial objects you would find in a common household, but tended to make beautiful objects out of even the crudest material. He moved from tin to silver and then into gold. Even the king owns a pair of candlesticks he made with a running vine of roses crawling up the base."

"He was very talented," Alys agreed, almost fervently gazing at the box Lora gently laid on the table in front of her. She could make out the L of Lora's initial, plus a butterfly with wings which reminded her of the fairy she had once met.

"He was," Lora said with a sad smile, trailing a finger over the corner of the box fondly. Her voice took on the saddened grief of losing a loved one that Alys recognized very well, and she knew it was one of the main things they had in common. "You mustn't tell Conrad, as he doesn't realize there is anything left." Lora said quickly. "I was able to save this, and was stupid enough to wear the earrings inside to my wedding." She paused for a moment, before continuing in a stronger voice, one used to a harsh world and dealing with grief, one tinged with bitterness. "I was still vain then."

Alys felt it then - just how far this girl had fallen, or had been dragged down. It churned her stomach and made her want to cry all at once. Then Lora opened the box, and all thoughts of retribution or pity fled Alys's mind. Alys had thought the box was a pinnacle of workmanship. Nestled in black velvet sat a pair of earrings. Alys had only ever seen earrings once before, and then they had been large and gaudy, looking like something which would be painful to have dangling from your ears. These were tiny, little golden roses with chains, each miniscule link perfectly symmetrical, running down to the shoulder. Each earring had five gathered chains draping from it. They weren't what drew the eye, however. Nestled within each rose was a blood-red ruby.

"Oh my God," Alys breathed, not able to form rhetoric of compliments through the overwhelming wonder she felt. The earrings were perfect, magical even, and she was her father's daughter enough to appreciate just how impossible almost every piece of it was. "Your father made these?" She finally managed to ask.

Lora hesitated for a moment before affirming Alys's question.

"You can't use them as payment," Alys suddenly snapped out of her trance and looked sharply at Lora. She didn't feel as if her opinion was simply because she was a girl, and the earrings were pretty. There was something deeper there, maybe in the way Lora eyed them as if they were the only thing keeping her alive at the moment, and just sharing them like this was making her edgy.

"I know, but what else can I do?"

"What if you had the gold pieces?"

"I don't." Lora was resigned.

"If you did," Alys urged. She would give Lora the money Selendrile left her. It was worth it if the earrings stayed in Lora's possession.

Lora stared at Alys for a second, wondering at the situation as if she knew what was being offered. "It would be strange if I somehow came up with the money my husband was desperate enough to borrow in the first place. It would raise far too many problems."

"How clos…"

"Lad!" Conrad's voice bellowed seconds before the door blew open, letting a blast of freezing air into the snug room. Both of the women jumped guiltily and Lora's eyes took on a desperately frightened gleam. Alys stood, shielding the tiny box with her body. She used the sound of the chair scraping against the floor to cover the snap of the little lid closing beneath her fingers. She palmed Lora's treasure, sliding the beautiful artwork into her sleeve as she turned.

"Yes?" She asked, trying not to frown as Conrad swayed drunkenly and lurched into the room.

"You's sleeeeping in Goohrsh's barn chewnight." He stumbled over to his wife, large hand pawing through her long black hair. Lora barely flinched to Alys's perception, but her eyes lost the living light they had taken on when she had taken out the earrings. She looked like she'd rather be dead.

"No!" Alys refused, standing solidly as she confronted the man letting her live in his house. Yes, he was larger and stronger than she was, and yes, he was very skilled in the art of warfare, but he was drunk and she was small and agile. If it came right down to it, she might live through a beating. She would do that for Lora, and then she would leave and hopefully bring the other girl with her.

"Ellis," Lora warned. "Please just go." Her voice was hollow.

"That's right," Conrad crooned, his hand stroking down his wife's face.

Alys's stomach revolted, and she almost lost the little bit of bread she had eaten for lunch. She was torn, not knowing whether she should leave or stand her ground. Lora was asking her to leave, but Alys recognized resignation and sacrifice when she saw it. She thought about it for a moment, various scenarios running through her head in the blink of an eye. If she jumped on Conrad and tried to pull him off Lora, she'd likely lose and he would just take it out on his wife. If she just refused to go anywhere, it would harm Lora's pride by making another person witness her degradation. If she left, she'd be turning her back – she didn't think she could live with herself for doing that. It was an impossible situation. Finally, she turned her back and walked out the door, realizing Lora had been dealing with this for a lot longer than she had been on the scene.

Alys trudged through the space between the houses, her feet weighted down by the snow and her own inadequacies. Once she reached Gorges's barn, which was what she was assuming Conrad's slur meant, she hunkered down in a mound of hay and wept amid the putrid smell of animal waste. The entire time, the edges of Lora's box were digging into the flesh of her arm, but it was a long time before she was able to actually feel it. It calmed her down enough so all she felt was a burning hatred for everyone who made her friend's life what it was, and Alys vowed to do what she could to rectify that. Once she had a goal, the feeling of uselessness lifted and she was finally able to breath.

Looking around the barn, she noticed it had once been a real workshop, similar to the one her father had used. Lora's father seemed to have left a trail behind, rungs of the ladder he had climbed to wealth, and she was starting to be able to see it. This workshop was crude and crumbling, probably the first one he had used. The family would have lived in the cramped quarters. Later, he used the entire old house as his place of work and built the family a new house, which Lora was currently living in. Later, when his talent brought his position in society even higher, he probably moved his family into the country, used the new house as a new workshop and sold the old one to Gorge as a barn. Alys could see the progression as if it was mapped in front of her, and she wished she could unravel the other mysteries of this family as easily. There was something there – some tragedy everyone knew about but no one spoke of – and she would uncover it before she left.

Climbing to her feet out of the hay, Alys brushed her pants off and went to work brushing out the hearth. Gorge kept wood stacked beside it, probably for emergency fires on extremely cold nights where animals were even in danger of dying from the cold. She uncovered an old anvil and tools from a cupboard. Next, she pulled out Lora's earrings and her own precious treasures from where they were hidden on various parts of her body and laid them out so she could see them. The skeletons of a plan were slowly building in her mind.

First, she melted down the gold coins. Quickly, she shaped the liquid metal into unsophisticated blossoms, trying to mimic the earrings as much as possible. It had been a long time since she had worked with metal, and even then it had never been anything as precious or soft as gold, as intricate as forming a flower, nor with such a perfect model to emulate. Heck, she had barely been able to make a button round. She had to improvise most of the time, pulling strands of silk from the tattered remains of the robe, covering them with gold and using them as the chains and connecting tiny hooks she had found in Gorge's fruitful cupboards to the back of the roses as a replacement to the clips on the original. The hardest part was finding something to replace the rubies.

Alys glanced around the barn. Up to that point, she had been able to find solutions to the problems within seconds and a little bit of scrounging. Now, she was at a loss. Gorge's horse was neighing and snorting, and the sky was beginning to lighten like it did right before dawn. A dog with matted silver hair watched her from a dark corner, sleepy eyes blinking at her. Alys, in the middle of a creative spurt, barely felt her own exhaustion beating down on her until she finished working with the gold, leaving only the stones. Now, she felt the effects of the energy she had burned crying, and her eyes burned from straining them to see. Alys looked out the window, dreading the rising sun as she had learned to with Selendrile. The glass reflected back a shadow of her own image. It was strange for a barn to have glass windows, another hint that this definitely used to be a house.

And then, she knew what she had to do. With a quick apology to Gorge, she walked deliberately over to the window and slammed her fist through the glass. The sharp shards sliced through her skin, and she grabbed two small fragments and hurried them over to the table she had been working at. Grabbing a file, she quickly shaped the shards into circles and then rolled them through the bloodied gashes in her skin until the glass was covered in blood. She had lost a lot of the deep red liquid as she had worked at making the glass into spheres, and it dripped from her woolen shirt and onto the hard dirt of the floor. In the corner, the dog whimpered at the smell of food, but made no movement towards her. A little too late to really help, Alys pressed her free hand against the wound to stanch the flow of blood. By the time the wound had congealed, the glass was dry. With the last of the gold, she affixed the make-shift jewels to the earrings and stood back to compare her handiwork.

It was sloppy and inadequate, but she hadn't expected anything else. Next to the real earrings, there was no comparison, but on their own they could pass for what Lora had worn from her ears, so long as Mrs. Odo hadn't really seen them close up. Alys scooped the real earrings into the bag with her dragon silk and the remainder of Seledrile's coinage, she put the fruit of her labours into Lora's box. Quietly, she crept back into the house to find Lora in her normal place by the fire, tear streaks already dried on her face and her husband long gone.

"Lora?" Alys asked tentatively. The pregnant woman looked to have gotten about as much sleep as Alys had, and she couldn't imagine how much worse her night had been. Lora looked up at her, not really seeing.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," she whispered, hand clutching at the baby in her stomach. "He was supposed to come back for me."

"Who?" Alys asked gently.

Lora ignored the question, as she wasn't really talking _to_ anyone. "Now I'm afraid he'll deliberately leave me here in my ruin."

"He won't," Alys answered firmly, giving a promise to Lora despite the fact she didn't know what it entailed. Lora's eyes came into focus, and she looked at Alys crouching before her. Alys offered a smile, which was no more than a friendly grimace. Lora returned it. "I have a present for you," Alys said, handing over the tiny silver box.

Lora opened it, taking in the jewelry lying in the velvet with a confused sneer on her face as she took in the sight of uneven, sloppy workmanship. "They're hideous," she said with a disdainful curl of her lips.

Alys laughed. "Yes, they are. And as far as Mrs. I-Look-Like-A-Boy knows, they're the exact ones you wore to your wedding."

"Yes," Lora replied with what might have been a laugh, once upon a time. "They're starting to look familiar."

Alys wasn't home when Lora presented the earrings to Mrs. Odo, but she was later told that the woman hadn't even noticed a discrepancy. For the first time, Alys shot an arrow which hit the target. The next day, she managed to jar the wooden playsword out of her opponent's hand. She had motivation now, and a plan. She just needed to get stronger so the blood being spilled was not her own.

It was during this time that the feeling of being watched returned, but the feeling of unseen eyes following her was a source of comfort, just as her nightmares morphing into dreams of vengeance helped her sleep through the night.

©RelenaFanel.Aug14.2006

Sorry this is late everyone. I guess I jinxed myself by bragging that I was on time with the last chapter. I'm not sure this chapter is everything I wanted it to be, but you all know how fickle inspiration is. For those of you who want Selendrile, he is everywhere and nowhere. Actually, he is there if you look for him. Plus, isn't it obvious that Alys can't go a day without thinking of him half a million times?

The action should pick up again next week. And here is cute little potty-mouth Steven bringing you the Mulan-esque song and dance routine for those who wanted it:

Steven: _I am a man_ .:puffs out scrawny chest:.

_I have a sword_ .:flourishes wooden sword and beams Ellis in the crotch with it:.

Alys: .:As everyone looks expectant:. _Oh, right. Owowww_

Corus:_ He has a swoooord._

.:Fat kid dances sideways across stage:.


	13. Chapter 13

To Lure a Dragon

The infamous number 13.

* * *

_Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow  
Every step that I take is another mistake to you_

* * *

Alys trudged into the house, her red, raw hands scrunched into the long sleeves of her wool sweater. It was now far too cold to be outdoors with only the autumn clothing Selendrile had provided for her a lifetime ago, but she had no way of procuring anything warmer in her current circumstances, particularly with Conrad continuously looking over his wife's shoulder. Around her shoulders, a flurry of harsh snow whipped and twirled, no longer wet and pleasant in consistency. Christmastide had come and gone, punctuated by Lora unearthing some of her fine flour for a pie and Conrad taking enough time from archery practice to actually shoot a bird for supper. The dinner itself was tense, as the three of them sat around the table in various levels of resentment towards one another, and the two women silently mourning what they had lost. Three days later and the only good thing Alys had gotten out of the experience was the pheasant grease to smear over her painfully cracking skin.

She paused outside the door for a cursory knock, not wanting to surprise Lora. Every day which went by, the pregnant woman became more and more despondent and Alys was frightened that one of these days Lora wouldn't hear her husband walk into the room while she was in these moods, especially if she had one of her secret treasures in her hand. Once Alys advertised her presence, she walked through the door. The fire was dim in the hearth, and the room was cast in darkened shadows. Lora was on the ground next to the table, her hands braced on the floor and head resting against one of the legs.

"Oh my God, what's wrong?" Alys exclaimed, rushing into the house without closing the door. A gust of wind followed her in, chilling the damp sweat on Lora's forehead.

"The baby," Lora hissed through the pain. Her face was pale, deep circles under her haunted eyes showed a deeper ache. As Alys knelt beside her, she lifted a hand to her stomach protectively and ended up with her fingers clutched in the white cloth of her dress as she whimpered.

"No," Alys whispered, shaking her head. Her hand was also shaking as she reached out, hovering, but not touching Lora. Which was from fright and nerves instead of denial. "It isn't time yet." Maybe, just saying it would make the baby stay in the womb. Of all the lessons she had learned, both through life and through Selendrile's teaching, giving birth had not been one of them.

"I know that!" Lora screamed.

"What do I do?" Alys yelled back.

"Get Helen," Lora panted, suddenly out of both energy and breath. Her hands found a solid chair leg and her fingers curled tightly around the unyielding wood as a wave of pain crashed through her body. Alys could see the stark whites of Lora's knuckles and hear the sharp whine of a frantically inhaled breath of air. She was still at a loss of what to do. On one hand, she knew she had to find help as she was ill-equipped to deal with this right now, but on the other hand she didn't want to leave Lora like this for one moment.

"Let me get you into the bed first," Alys promised.

"Later," Lora breathed, panting as her body relaxed, allowing her lungs to get air and muscles to relax.

Alys nodded, turning from the room and fleeing out the door. In her haste she almost forgot to close the door, sliding on the slick ice beneath the snow as she jerked to a stop. She pulled the thick panel of wood closed behind her, briefly wincing at the loud sound it made. Her worn boots didn't have the tractions she needed to really dig into the slippery ground, but she was only running next door. With no regard to the occupants of the house, being Helen and Gorge, she pounded on their front door with her fists. She knew that an emergency such as this wouldn't bother them, not like some people in the town.

A few seconds later Helen stood in front of her, grains of rye clinging to her stringy brown hair and worn gingham dress. Her face was wearing the scowl of a woman who had just been pulled away from her household chores, which immediately turned to perceptive concern. "What's going on?" Helen asked, impatiently pushing aside a lock of her hair.

"Lora. The baby's coming." Alys breathed, her lungs gasping for breath as her mind panicked. She knew deep down that something was wrong, the intuition only a woman could have towards another. She could sense the way Helen understood by the way her muscles tensed and she inhaled through her teeth.

"Go get the midwife," Helen told her before she even looked at Lora's condition. This just elevated the worry eating at Alys's thoughts and energy.

Alys nodded, hurrying between the two houses so she could get to the path through the woods. Lora had once explained to her how to find the midwife, but Alys had never been there. She could only hope she remembered the directions and arrived in time. She knew what it was like to run through the forest on a tight time schedule, racing the clock and the fact that even when you reached the goal there was still the race back. She had done it for Selendrile to save his life, and could do it again for Lora. She was healthy and strong, Alys told herself as she entered the edge of the forest. The first time she had walked beneath these trees, she had thought someone had been watching her, and that feeling never left her. The eyes focused on the back of her head edged her on, as if with an audience judging her there was even more on the line.

Alys tripped over a fallen log, the frozen wood snapping sharply as her boot hit into and she toppled head first into the snow. The mid-January ground was icy and sharp, a definite change from the soft, fluffy snow she had rough-played in with Selendrile. Of course, over the months he had left her here she had grown stronger and more used to taking a beating and her tumbling didn't phase her physically. As she jumped to her feet her mind started to rebel against the strength she was forcing herself to have. What if, Alys realized, she didn't make it? What if she couldn't find the midwife? What if the midwife wasn't there? What if they didn't make it back in time? What if there really were complications with Lora's pregnancy and there was nothing that could be done.

Drawing up short, all worries flooded from Alys's brain for one alarmed second as she stared at the frozen brook in front of her. Underneath the sheet of ice rushed cold water, and she instinctively knew from the lack of snow on the ground and the talk of the townsfolk that this was a surprisingly mid winter. What if she couldn't make it across the water, her brain taunted her as she broke back into reality. Alys pushed the worry and foreboding back, taking a fortifying breath as she took one step on to the frozen ice. Nothing happened and she relaxed. She had nothing to worry about here. Maybe on the way back when there were two people trying to cross instead of one she'd really have something to give her a pause.

That didn't mean she was going to be reckless and try to run across. Who knew what kind of damage the pounded of running feet would do instead of normal, gentle steps? Alys took another cautious step forward, heart pounding from exertion with the addition of fear. She didn't hear cracking of ice beneath her, only the sound of her own breath and her heart beat. She took another step and had no time to react as the ice splintered and teetered under her feet. It wasn't possible, she thought in the instant when she was on the precipice, balanced between tumbling into the icy water and regaining her footing. There were no signs and she was closer to the middle of the water and not the edge.

Then she dropped like the dead weight into the chilling water below. The shock of the freezing temperature drove all air from her lungs as she fought against her body and the current to break surface. For a second she could feel the liquid swirling around her, breaking past the barrier of her clothing and assaulting her skin until she felt like a block of ice herself. She was numb, her body not wanting, maybe even unable, to listen to her frantic wishes to move and slowly she was resigning herself to death by drowning.

"Selendrile!" She screamed, the noise being pulled away from her bluing lips, message traveling under the ice and becoming lost amidst the sunken ships and siren calls of those caught in the liquid grasp of two parts hydrogen on part oxygen before her. She felt suspended in time, no longer aware of which way was up and which would bring her further downstream. She knew it was the end a second before her head broke surface with a rush of freezing air ripping apart her lungs.

Coughing and sniveling, Alys grabbed on to the jagged side of the ice and realized that getting her head above water initially was probably the easiest step in saving her own life. She had to get out of the water, not only for herself but for Lora. Who knew how long it would take before anyone realized she was missing? She knew she had to get out of the water, but she was so tired and it would be so easy to just let go and allow herself to drift underneath the ice and join her parents and friends in death.

With a slight shake of her head, she focused her eyes on the ledge of ice in front of her. It looked thick enough to support her weight, thicker than it should be seeing how easily she fell through. If she could only get up there, it would probably support her enough. What she needed was something underneath her kicking feet to give her a boost. If she was really lucky, maybe someone would be nearby and hear her scream. It gave her a flash of warming hope.

"Help," Alys called, her voice croaking and sounding feeble even to her own ears. With a sinking heart, she realized she was all alone because even if someone were there they would never hear her. Her teeth her chattering and every choppy breath she took told the tale of someone dying of hypothermia. She was all alone, he had left her with no one but her own resourcefulness and she was out of that. Selendrile. Her Father. They were one in the same.

"_You know,"_ his voice told her conversationally. She could hear it plain as day, as if he were standing over her and watching as she struggled to keep her head above the water. _"Wool sticks to ice."_

Wool sticks to ice, Alys told herself, willing her arm to move. She had to shake her head once to get her body back in motion before she was able to pull her arm out of the sleeve of her sweater. As soon as her bare arm hit the water she could feel just how insulated her clothing was keeping her and for a second she blanked out of her plan as her mind fought through the chill. Get out of the water, she begged herself, but her sluggish muscles didn't want to obey. Finally, she was able to wriggle out of one of the sleeves of her wool sweater. Keeping half of the shirt on like a sling, she threw the sleeve like a rope with all her strength and was dismayed when it didn't travel as far as she had hoped.

Alys pulled the make-shift rope back towards her, brain fervently going through all the prayers of her childhood as she prepared to try again. This time the sopping wet wool hit the ice with a shlicking sound, holding tight. She grabbed it with her bare hands, trying to pull herself clear out of the water. She barely moved upwards an inch when a piece of ice broke off from under her and she tumbled back into the icy water. Her head went forward, slamming against the hard barrier of ice before she completely submerged. For a second, one glorious second of nothingness, Alys blacked out and probably would have drowned. The sweater tightening, straining against her neck and other arm saved her life.

This time when she broke the surface of the water her coughs were weak and muted. She knew that if she didn't try to get up now, didn't get out of the water very soon, that she would die with one sleeve keeping her body from submerging. Alys grabbed the wool again, pulling with all her strength. A few months ago she might have been able to lift herself an inch or so, but with all the weaponry training she had been forced into lately, she now had greater upper body strength. That was negated by the fact that her body was so numb, she was so cold, and the shivering tremors assaulting her body almost forced her to let go again. Somehow she managed to get her bare elbow on solid ice, barely noticing the bite of the grains of snow searing into her skin. With this leverage, Alys slowly rolled her body up and out of the water, falling onto her back and laying there.

Vaguely, she could make out the darkening night sky through the bare trees above her. Her eyes were heavy, and the shivers racking her body were violent and uncontrolled. Above her the clouds swirled and the peripherals of her vision narrowed, then widened, giving her vision the effect of undulating waves and for a moment she wondered if she was still underwater. The tremors causing her whole body to vibrate slowed, then stopped altogether. Thankful for the reprieve, Alys rolled to her side, attempting to stumble to her feet. Her arms gave out on her before she could even lift her head and so she just stayed where she was, feeling detached from her own body. Every time she blinked her eyes, her lids were heavier to open, and then the shaking started again.

"Hello," a deep tenor said from the crown of her head. The voice was jolly sounding, and definitely not the tone someone would use to someone in her condition if they were going to save her. Great, she was hallucinating now. "You aren't going to be polite, human?" The voice asked as a small, red pointed hatted man stepped into her line of sight. He was about the size of her hand, and glaring at her like she was offending him.

Alys's shivering stopped and she realized she was in more trouble than she thought. She curled into a ball, not even feeling it when her bare arm ripped off the snow and left behind a layer of dead skin. She knew she was dead, and could only hope that Lora's life wasn't in peril because of her. And the baby.

The gnome walked around her, squatting in front of her face. Alys's eyes crossed as she tried to look at him through her blurring vision. "You stink of fey, human."

"Heeeehl," Alys tried, her voice slurring and tongue not listening to the word screaming through her head. Help. She tried again. "Heeh."

"Heeehheeeh." The gnome mocked, screwing his face up and sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth. His jeer became a chuckle until he was laughing in the face of her clinging life.

_He'll kill you!_ Her mind screamed. _He will kill you!_ The voice was so vehement that for a moment she thought it had emerged through her bluing lips. Her body stopped shivering, the unnatural stillness quiet. She couldn't feel the cold now. Couldn't hear the pleased tones of laughter, or the sound of Jorge's dog barking as it stood over her in protection. As Alys stared into the sky, she saw the sun set and almost smiled at the irony. The setting of the sun was once a time she looked forward to. It was supposed to be magical; the witching hour. She thought it was apt that when Selendrile was coming into his powers, she was losing her life.

Alys's heart beat slowed and her eyes finally stayed shut.

* * *

Don't kill me. 


	14. Chapter 14

**To Lure a Dragon**

Chapter 14

* * *

_How I wish I'd chosen darkness from cold.  
How I wish I had screamed out loud, . . .  
__How I wish I could walk through the doors of my mind;  
Hold memory close at hand,_

Tears and Rain - James Blunt

_

* * *

_

Alys became aware of a golden light shining in her eyes; her body was no longer cold and she could feel an unknown weight on her, pushing against her lungs in a comforting suffocation. I'm dead, she thought, and this is God calling me to heaven. Then the light abruptly halted and her mind drifted up and down on an undulating wave of consciousness until she was so deep within her mind that even the light couldn't pull her out. There, she saw wondrous things. Her long-dead mother holding out a welcoming hand with a long-forgotten gentle smile, beckoned her closer. Alys drifted, seemingly floating towards her.

"Alys, my baby," she cooed, enveloping the girl in a hug of true warmth, shocking her freezing shell to life. Alys hadn't known cold until she knew heat. "You have come back to me."

"Am I dead," Alys asked, but the word was foreign here, in this place of memory, and she almost didn't understand the question herself.

"Soon," mom promised, the word stretching on and whisper-hissing in Alys's ear. The hug became fiery, and she recoiled, alarmed and frightened. Where she expected the burning image of the woman who gave her life, or maybe fairy trickery, was nothing but open air which looked white, but was not, black, but was not. It was nothing, and it was everything.

Alys started to weep. She was alone and dying, and everything just seemed so overwhelming in that moment. It had been a long while since her last good cry, since Selendrile left her to fend for herself in a frightening world of good people and evil. This town had shown her human nature as it probably shouldn't be seen, as the blinders of familiarity were not skewing her vision. When you know no one, it is easier to learn everything. She had been lonely for a long time, but this abandonment she was feeling was sharp, the searching edge of her conscious trying to find someone familiar, someone there. She would even wish for this burning wraith of her mother to return and engulf her in flaming sensation.

_Ellis? Ellis? I FOUND HIM._

Alys spun around, the loud voice and words so terribly familiar, and for a moment she thought she could grab them into her small fists as use them as a rope to the surface. She was drowning again, in this hollow air of nothingness. Every breath hurt, but she couldn't feel herself breathing. Her vision swam, and yet there was nothing she could see. She felt like a range of contradictions were pulling at her limbs, caressing her skin and tugging her hair until everything burned like cold cold ice. Thoughts of death were never far.

"You'll live," and amused voice promised by her side. Alys turned on foot, coming face to the flaming red hair of her friend Risa.

"Are you sure?" Alys asked, eying her doubtfully, "because you sure didn't."

"Everyone's a critic." Risa sat, crossing her legs under her and looked up expectantly. Downwards was the same as up, and Alys didn't know if there was actually a ground or if this was something her limited knowledge of philosophy wouldn't be able to comprehend. 'I am here. I am standing. Therefore, the nothingness must have something' or some other type of pre-Socratic 'all is fire' metaphysical… information. Alys sat, determined not to make her head hurt more than it already was and turned towards her best friend, who was looking alive and well, a drastic difference from the pallid sweaty skin, rigid muscles, and locked jaw of someone dying from tetnus. She also aged along with Alys, so she was now a sixteen year old girl instead of the eight she had died at, and the first thing that Alys noticed was that she would have grown up to be the town beauty, and would likely have been married off already.

"You look good," Alys noted.

"Thank you," Risa giggled, bringing Alys back to a time of the sheltered innocence of children running through fields with growing grass and whispering in excited tones about the strange visitor walking through the town. She cocked her head to the side. "They've found you, and are trying to warm you up. Your lips are blue and they thought you dead, but they noticed a small puff of air emerging from your lips."

"I was worried." Worried was an understatement. Alys had been petrified that she was dead and this was all there was on the other side.

"I was too. It's too soon for you to join me." Risa leaned forward, conspiring with Alys like a best friend would. "Tell me about this bull."

"What bull?" Alys asked, mind going through all the barn animals she had seen in the past while.

"You know," Rise said with a grin, her countenance suddenly changing to someone more serious as her voice became deeper. "You're a pig and I'm a bull, and never shall the two of us fornicate in sin."

"He said horse."

"He looked like a bull from where I was standing," Risa pointed out with a teasing, naughty grin.

"Risa!" Alys exclaimed, blushing at her friend's obvious meaning. If Risa had lived, she would have experienced more of this adult humour, but Risa had died and so it was foreign sounding coming out of a mouth she still thought of as eight years of age. "I wouldn't know. I never looked."

"Oh, you looked."

"I did not!" Alys argued, knowing she had lost the dispute already. She always did have difficulty lying to her best friend.

"Then how do I know what he looks like naked. All golden and…"

"Stop it!" Alys winced away, putting her hands over her ears. "I can't hear you. Laaaalalaaaa."

"You always were tone-deaf." Risa said as a parting shot as she suddenly just wasn't there.

"Risa?" Alys called, knowing that like her mother, the warmth of another presence would not return when she begged it to.

"_Princess Alys," he said, bowing with a straight back and stiff arms. "I am forever in your servitude."_

_She grinned, looking at him from the grassy slope on the side of the road. Her head was above her feet even though she was lying down and she was using this natural support as a way to see the clouds without straining her neck. "Are you my knight or my page boy?" She asked haughtily, the ethereal moonlight muted behind his golden hair gave him the appearance of Galahad, roguishly awaiting a favour from a lady before going into battle._

_Selendrile narrowed his brow at her for a moment, thrown not only by her insult but the sudden character she adopted. He had meant his original statement as an irony to her worn, stolen clothing and the relaxed slouch of her body. Now, her facial expression became arrogant and her body language seemed more languid than peasant. He was charmed. "I am the knight who can tame dragons. The slayer of many such armed men before me. And you, my dear, shall be my latest conquest."_

"_Hardly," Alys replied with a quirked eyebrow as she went back to watching the clouds form over the glimmering stars. She pointed to a cluster of sparking lights in the sky. "Is that the Draco constellation you were telling me about?"_

_Instead of answering her question, he grabbed her wrist and hauled her off the ground in one swift motion. Suddenly, she was ensconced in his arms, his breath warm against her skin. "You will not ignore me," he promised, fingers gripping into her hip through the layers of clothing._

Then nothing.

"Selendrile," Alys called out, knowing she wouldn't be answered. She wanted to say that the scene in her memory hadn't happened, but she had forgotten about it in the time long before caves and horses and pigs.

"Sorry to disappoint." An equally loved male voice said.

"Father!" Alys gasped, spinning on heel so she could face him. Like the other two visitors before him, he was living and breathing instead of dead, as if she were being haunted by the people in her past who loved her.

"Why aren't you married yet, child?"

"Marriage?" Alys asked with a laugh. "You were the one who encouraged me to wait."

"You'll be waiting forever, if you keep on your chosen path."

"But it's the path I've picked, isn't it?" Alys asked, wondering what path her father was referring to. Was he talking about Selendrile? This was all very strange.

"You should have died with me," her father told her calmly. "You won't last the night."

"I've lasted worse nights than this," Alys promised, yelling after the faded image of the man who was nothing like the father of reality. These manifestations of her parents were cruel, telling her harsh realities she didn't want to hear and had buried in her subconscious. It was not them saying it, but her inner most self - the part of her who felt guilty for her mother's death far ago and the more recent demise of her father. It was her fault, she knew, that they were no longer in this world.

"Life goes on," he promised. "Without you, they wouldn't have survived more than relatively a few years on this earth. I've seen humans born, and I've seen them die after a long life, all shriveled and in pain from living. I don't see the appeal."

"You aren't dead," Alys said suspiciously. "Right?"

Selendrile snorted. "Of course not. You saved me, remember?"

"Are you here to save me?" Alys asked, wondering why he was here physically instead of another memory. This hadn't happened. This conversation was current and new.

Selendrile picked at pieces of former meals wedged under his finger-talons. "I've done that already." He replied with disinterest. This was the cruel Selendrile she had encountered last. The heartless dragon who could leave a young girl to fend for herself.

"Then why are you here?" Alys asked, angry now.

"I'm dead to you, so I'm added to your list of victims."

"You aren't dead to me!" Alys insisted. "I'm just furious with you."

"Dead," he mocked. "I will outlive you in reality, but in your mind I'm long gone." He disappeared in irony.

"That isn't true," Alys cried, her breath hitching with sobs. "You'll never be dead to me. I'll keep you with me always." She didn't know who she was talking about. Selendrile. Daddy. Risa. Mother. They were all the same, her four visitors. The only people in her life who meant anything to her. "Selendrile! You lizard turd! You're all I have left. The only one."

"_You'll be fine," he promised, smiling at her. One of his hands caressed her cheek. Alys was taken back for a moment at his reappearance and change, but then realized they weren't in the nothingness room anymore. They were back on that grassy knoll beside the road, the grass no longer green and lush, but a muted, sickly brown of dead life. _

"_Are you sure?" She asked, leaning into his touch. He was warm and soft, holding her gently as if she were precious and fragile to him. "I'm so frightened," she told only him. _

"_I am too," he confided. "A human's body is frail, and yours has been through a lot. You need warmth, but most importantly you need to fight the fever."_

"_I am."_

"_You aren't," he informed her. "You're lost, princess."_

"_What should I do?" She asked him, because he was omniscient even outside her dreams._

"_You'll know when the time comes." He paused for a second. He was so close she could see his long golden lashes flutter over his astonishing and sharp purple eyes, swirling with indigos, violets and concern. _

"_Can't you help me," she asked as a small, wounded child._

"_I can't just snap my fingers and make everything all right." Selendrile's eyes closed as if he didn't know whether to say what was coming next. "I can give you eternal life."_

"_Can you?" She asked, surprised. This was a power she had never presumed he could give._

"_In a way. I can bind you with me forever. When I die, you die. You'll be human with me during the night. This, I cannot offer to you now."_

"_Why not?"_

"_Because I don't want to do that to you. Promise me you'll live, and I promise that I'll save you if you can't."_

"_I promise." Alys said, wondering if she would fight for her life if she knew the alternative was to be with Selendrile for an eternity._

"_I'll let you die if you do that," he pledged, reading her mind. "I need your promise."_

"_Yes, I promise," Alys said, impatience creeping into her voice._

"_Not through words," he said with a sudden smile. Slowly, his lips brushed over hers in an eternal vow. _He was gone before the kiss could end, and the nothingness was suddenly black.

"Selendrile!" Alys screamed, searching but lost.

* * *

"Where is that damn boy," Jorge muttered crossly, following Alys's footprints through the snow, ignoring the trickles which tumbled into his already wet boots. He had come home expecting a warm meal and a bowl of hot water to immerse his feet into like he received every night from his wife, but tonight she was gone and a horrible screaming was coming from next door. He had bolted through the door of Conrad's house, thinking someone was slaughtering the womanfolk, only to find Lora half naked, legs spread, and the sickening sight of a baby crowning ruining his view.

"Gah!" He had exclaimed, embarrassed and trying to hide his readied sword behind his back before his wife mocked him with her sharp tongue.

"Get out!" His wife had screamed. "And find that lazy Ellis boy with the midwife while you're at it you big lug."

So Jorge had no choice but to go back out into the wind and snow, searching for one of his students instead of relaxing in front of the fire. The fact that his dog was barking frantically and so loudly that the neighbours would probably complain if they weren't currently listening to Lora's screams of pain did not make him much happier. The brief thought that he was glad he wasn't a woman did appease him for a moment, but then his dog howled and Jorge shook his head at the beast. "Shut up," he muttered, wondering why he owned a dog anyway.

The dog renewed it's effort, barking so harshly that Jorge abandoned his search for the wayward boy and went to go see what catch of the day his mutt was going to proudly claim. He emerged from the forest to see the dog hunched over his kill protectively, growing silent when he appeared. Whatever animal the dog had caught was about twice its size. "What do you have there, boy? A nice yummy supper?" Jorge asked, humouring the dog. It wasn't a stretch for him, as he spent most of his life humouring his demanding wife. There were parallels there, but he wasn't about to implicitly state them.

The dog growled impatiently, if a dog can be impatient, and moved out of the way. Jorge recognized Ellis's sweater in the curled up body behind the dog and for one irrational moment he thought the animal had attacked him. Then, his warrior training kicked in and he noticed the broken ice and frost appearing over the body. "Well I'll be the bastard son of a leprechaun!" Jorge exclaimed, rushing over to Alys. "Ellis. Ellis. Are you alright? I FOUND HIM!" He yelled into the empty woods, remembering too late that this wasn't an official search party like the town had to form almost every spring for the body of someone who had gone missing during the winter.

Alys didn't move.

Jorge picked her up, not knowing whether she was still alive or not, but knowing that he needed to get her body inside and away from the perils of the forest. The sound of Alys's body ripping from the ice and snow was deafening, and Jorge hoped it had been only her clothes and not her skin frozen to the ground. As he jostled her, Alys coughed weakly. Jorge was so stunned that the person in his arms lived, he almost dropped her.

For Jorge, the trek through the forest was one of the longest he had ever taken, and yet he made better time than usual. The trip wasn't entirely uneventful, as he almost tripped once and another time he almost wacked the poor boy's head off against a tree. Once he reached his house, as he didn't think it was wise to upset the women in the birthing room next door, plus there was no way he was braving _that_ again, so he set Ellis on the floor and began to strip him of his wet, frozen clothing. Before he had left to search for Ellis, he had put his own water for his poor, mishandled feet on the fire, and though he had felt guilty for it after finding the lad, he was congratulating himself for his foresight now that he needed it. Sparingly, he used the water to thaw the clothing encasing his favourite student.

"It's true you know," Jorge began conversationally. "You show great promise with steal." Inch by inch Jorge was able to peel the ice away from Ellis's skin. "When you grow up, you'll make a real man. If ya know what I mean." Jorge finished yanking the sweater off 'Ellis'.

"GAH!" He exclaimed, throwing the shirt back over her to cover a couple of things which definitely wouldn't make her a real man. If ya know what I mean. Jorge's eyes shifted left and right as he wondered what he should do now. It was more important for him to get Ellis-or-whatever-her-name-was into something drier than to obsess over that fact that he was a she, but he didn't know if he could go on undressing he-who-is-she in good consciousness. What he needed was his wife.

"Ruff," the dog barked.

Jorge agreed. "I'm sorry, girl." He said, going to work on taking off her pants. He was working with only one eye half open, as if that would protect her modesty. He finished with the frozen clothing, then quickly wiped her down with the scalding water in an attempt to warm her skin. "I guess that means you're doubly as good with those blades, being a woman and all."

Once she was redressed in some of the warmest clothing he could find, Jorge pulled the sleeping pallet in front of the fire and bundled her under the quilt. Her skin was already clammy with fever even though he had been careful to dry her. It made his heart ache to think he had been too late, and that while life was being given next door, it was probable it would be taken away here.

"Jorge," his wife yelled crossly from the doorway, wiping what looked like blood from her hands as she hurried into the room. "I had to birth that baby on my own. Did you even go looking for the lad? Ungrateful whelp, I bet he's out somewhere charming some lady out of her shirts."

"Honey," Jorge warned, trying to catch her attention. "I don't think she'll be doing anything."

"What are you talking about?" Helen asked sharply, going back to the bread she had been working on before being called away. Jorge didn't see her wash her hands and he knew that was some bread he was going to feed to the dog. The mutt deserved a reward anyway.

"The lad had fallen into the stream. I brought him back here and when I was trying to get the wet clothes off him I found out that he was a she."

"Connie's been harbouring a girl? He won't like that."

"He wouldn't like you calling him Connie either," Jorge retorted. "That's not the point. You're going on and on about the lad inconveniencing you, and in reality not only is it not a lad, but…"

"But what?" Helen asked, not used to overt criticism from her husband.

"She probably won't last the night."

The dog whined, curling up beside Alys's leg and putting his head on her stomach. Next door, a baby was learning to cry while Alys's breath grew labored.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.oct26.2006

Hey everyone. My birthday is November 1st and my presents from my family arrived today. It's making me excited. Also, NaNoWriMo is starting that day, so if any of you want a buddy, my username is RelenaFanel. I'll even reciprocate if you let me know your username (in a review?).

So here is your 14th chapter. I tried to have Alys's part a line of consciousness through the mind of someone with a high fever. I know it's stylistically different and may not make a lot of sense, but I'm sure most of your remember some conclusion you reached during a flu that you thought was brilliant (such as red socks must make your feet warmer than blue) and later realized it was stupid.

Finally, I made a new Vivian Vande Velde LJ community called Murking Fantasy. So if you have LJ, why not join. At the moment there is a challenge going on for Halloween and the entries are due Oct. 30th. If you don't want to participate, then maybe it'll be equally as fun to go check out the stories entered. I'm going to try to submit one Dragon's Bait fic and another CotN.

Reviews are much-loved!


	15. Chapter 15

**To Lure a Dragon**

Chapter 15

* * *

_It's how I always want to feel so let's die before the **secrets** get revealed  
I'm falling over from scratches built through time  
For timeless mistakes, my **memories **dissolve and all I know are these scars_

433-Sinch

* * *

Her body was so hot she was shivering, body quaking beneath the multiple layers of blankets covering her slight form. Every once and a while there was a shimmering flame or the sound of someone moving nearby, but mostly she wasn't lucid enough for any of her surroundings to catch.

_Don't tell Lora, the childbirth was difficult enough for the poor dear._

It was better for Alys when she was deeply sleeping, as she didn't notice the extreme cold and sweltering hot her body was flipping between, reeling weakly through the fever eating at her body and numbing her mind. When she was awake, she hurt in ways difficult to imagine, and so her natural defenses kept her in a state of sleep. She didn't feel her toes and fingers tingling, the first layer of skin dead with blisters forming. Alys was fortunate, as the numbing cold hadn't completely frozen and deadened her flesh and only gave her a mild case of frost nip. With the fever, the painful part of her body sloughing the dead skin would be almost over. If she survived.

_Well, she made it 'til morning. I thought for sure we'd be digging a grave today._

_Don't speak too soon._

In the blackness she sometimes went back to that place where she saw her family. It was no longer an empty entry-way, exiting this world. Instead, she saw fields and cattle, houses and home. Her father smiled, her mother laughed as Risa mocked. "You were dead fer sure. But you showed them," the child-form of her best friend said, with a tinkle in her eye. Sometimes, she and Selendrile were sitting side by side in the cave, on the outside log now covered in snow, in a haystack. They barely spoke, not needing words between them.

_Are you sure this will help? Seems to me it's what got her into this mess in the first place._

_Just put it on her forehead. It'll bring the fever down._

The cool cloth on her head was like jumping into a cold mountain stream during the first heat-wave of May. Cold and refreshing, her body relished the feeling of the water soaking up the sweat dripping on her forehead. Alys opened her eyes, the light wavering as she tried to focus, drifting in and out of consciousness like a raft being pulled by the tide.

_She just tensed._

"I think she's waking up."

Alys's eyes popped open, but she was only semi-aware of what was going on. She rolled over on to her side, coughing violently, her whole body heaving, until her lungs were like burning coals in the flame of her body and she was panting for breath. There was a hand on her forehead, this time without the comforting cloth. Everything was so bright, and for a moment she thought she was in the fire, flames licking at her skin. Her eyes were lethargic, her eyelids bricks pulling her under.

"Would you like _some water?_ The end of the sentence wavered as she drifted off again.

She was standing at the fork of a road, neither path labeled. Alys didn't need signs to tell her that this represented her life, and that this was one strange symbolic dream. "Where am I supposed to go?" She asked, no one around to hear her query. "Is this a choice between life and death again?"

"It's far more important than that," Selendrile promised, walking up beside her. His body stood straight with hers, giving no hint to which route she should take.

"Is this where you tell me to always take the high road, or to choose the path of least resistance?"

"Hardly," he responded, quirking his head to the left. For a moment she thought he was giving her direction, but then realized he was listening to something on the wind.

_Getting worse._

"What does that mean?" She asked, copying his head movements so both of them stood, listening identically. "Is it a sign?"

"It has nothing to do with this. This isn't for now, it's for the future."

"This is confusing me."

He turned towards her then, a smile on his lips. "You aren't meant to have the answer."

"Are you?" She asked, showing the hero-worship she always felt but so infrequently let him see.

_Physician._

_Bloodletting._

Selendrile turned his head towards the sky. "You will NOT touch her," he roared in his dragon voice, and suddenly she was no longer there.

"Selendrile?" Alys gasped, panting, body bolting straight up in bed. Her head whirled, and she had to close her eyes against the dizziness. The blankets were heavy from where they fell around her waist and her body was drenched in her own cold sweat. She shivered, but wasn't sure if she was cold or not.

"I'm right here," he told her gently, hand firmly pushing on her shoulder. "Lie back down."

It was dark, the fire was burning out in the hearth. His hair glinted in the dim light, shimmering with a wealth of gold. "Are you real?" She croaked, throat raw.

"As real as you are," Selendrile promised, but Alys knew that didn't answer her question. In dreams, he was also as real as she was. She fell backwards, no longer able to support her own body. His hand drifted from her shoulder to her head. "You're getting worse."

"You came back," she murmured.

"I couldn't let them use their ineffective medical methods on you. You're too weak to survive leeches or poison."

"Did you…" She knew something was missing, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It had nothing to do with the man sitting next to her, his hand stroking through her hair, comforting and relaxing her weary mind. It had been a long, long fight against the fever, and though she had been getting better, her body was getting too taxed to do much else. The room around her was as warm as Gorge could make it, and yet it was still winter in a drafty house. Though his hand in her hair relaxed her, his presence made sure she kept awake. She stared at him, loving his hair and shadowed eyes. He looked more like an angel than he did a dragon and though her eyes hurt when she looked at him, she couldn't tear herself away from the vision he made. "I…"

"Shhh. I brought you something. You'll have to sit up to drink this," he apologized, slipping his arm under her shoulders and lifting her into a sitting position. He kept her braced, gently bringing a cup to her lips with his free hand. She could barely feel the warm rim of the pottery pressed against her lip.

Alys tried to take a sip, but more dribbled down her chin than into her mouth. It tasted foul, like leaves after they spent the winter under the snow. 'Did you make this yourself?' she wanted to ask, commenting on his complete lack of cooking skills like she usually did when he tried to feed her something foul. The words wouldn't come out, and it was getting more and more difficult to concentrate on his blurring features. He was all there was keeping her anchored, but she was starting to lose even that. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer.

"You need to drink more than that," he said, giving her a slight shake. Alys gave a long blink, then focused on him again.

"You're so pretty," she slurred.

"So you keep telling me," he smiled, bringing the cup back up to her mouth and tilting it slightly. This time she didn't try to gulp it down, just taking a sip, then another. Suddenly, she just couldn't hold her head up anymore and it nodded downwards on its own accord. The tea splashed over her chin as her mouth crashed into the cup. It ran down her neck, wetting the front of her damp shirt. "Alys," Selendrile called in that worried tone she barely ever heard. Her body shook, and she didn't know whether the cold shakes were back or whether he was trying to get her to respond to him. "Alys."

She moaned, whimpering from the back of her throat. It was the best answer she could give that she was still alive.

"I can't do much more to help you if you won't drink. The. Tea." Though his voice was firm, almost angry, it sounded so far away that it was like he was speaking to someone else. Her eyes fluttered, not quite opened but not closed yet either. He put her down, allowing her to rest on the bed once again. Her fingers grasped the front of his shirt, too weak to do much more than touch the cloth. Then she let go.

This time, she fought against the slumber trying to take her away from him, but ended up experiencing only a few moments of disjointed consciousness. His fingers were wet on her lips, bringing the bitter taste of medicine with them. His hand stoked her cheek.

_Use some of_ that strong will."

Then, she couldn't sense him anymore. He wasn't sitting beside her, or at the crossroads. She couldn't find him in the cave, on the log, in a haystack. He was just gone, and her mind mourned, falling into the despair she only ever saw after the death of a loved one. He had left her again, was always leaving. There must be something about her that sent people away. She was nothing.

And he couldn't possibly love her the way she loved him.

She had tried to tell him, when he insistently forced the healing tea down her throat, but he hadn't let her say the words. If she had, maybe he wouldn't have left, or maybe he would have ran away quicker. It was impossible to tell, just as she would never admit to her feelings. It was safer for him. Everyone she loved died. Everyone.

His hand was back on her forehead, and she awoke with a start, her head banging against the arm of the person sitting next to her as she bolted upright, searching wildly through the room. "Selendrile?" The room was light; it was day.

"Your fever seems to have broken dear." A kind, gentle voice said beside her, but it wasn't him. Alys started sobbing, instinctively knowing he had never been. "Shhh, now. Shhhh. You're better now. It's a miracle."

Alys stopped crying, simply not having the energy for it anymore. "Thank you," she croaked once she found her breath again. She owed this woman and her husband her life, knowing they had nursed her back to health even after finding out her secret. "The baby?"

"A beautiful boy." Helen handed her a cup. Alys's hands shook as she held it, bringing it to her mouth. The fever must have hid the true taste of it from her, because it was even more disgusting a foul now that she was completely awake. She shivered in revulsion. "Disgusting, I know. But it seems to be effective. I was a little suspicious at first, because who knows where it comes from."

"What?" Alys asked, ears perking up. What could Helen possibly mean? Alys had assumed that the housewife had brewed the remedy herself and that the reality of the taste inserted itself into her dreams. "Where'd you get it then?"

"I found it on the doorstep this morning."

With that, Alys smiled and drank her tea.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.November10.2006

Waves Did I update in good time? Now, hands up... how many of you think Selendrile was really back? How many of you think she dreamed it all? How many of you are aware of how tricky I am sometimes and would rather not answer that question?


	16. Chapter 16

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 16_

* * *

After regaining consciousness that morning two weeks before, Alys began the long journey towards a regained perfect health. She had been sick, fever eating at her body and mind, for about thirty-six hours and it had left her so weak that it took her about 12 days before she could stand without getting woozy and walk to the latrine on her own. It was obvious to her that her health had returned, both in her eyes and everyone else's, when Gorge stopped fielding Conrad's demands that she get back to warrior training.

Apparently, her new benefactors not only didn't mind that she had moved in, but were also protecting her from their bully neighbor. The only part of that she regretted was the fact that she was no longer around to protect Lora. Alys didn't think that would matter for long. The week she spent in bed was not wasted by an idle mind. She now had a plan to get out of town, and bring Lora and the baby with her. It was beautiful in its simplicity – she was simply going to walk out of town with the two in tow and no one would notice anything was wrong until Conrad shouted the alarm.

Hopefully, it could wait until spring. If not, then it would be a cold and dangerous journey for the three of them, particularly the small baby.

"Are you going to go down to the field today?" Helen asked her on the two-week anniversary of baby Avery's birth.

Alys continued to knead dough, staring at the logs burning brightly in the fire. She thought about continuing along with her new trend of helping Helen and Lora in the kitchen instead of acting like young male heir of the house, but of a town of thirty adult occupants, and approximately forty children, only three were aware that she was a female, and if she started to act like one now, they would likely become suspicious. That would bring undue attention to herself, making it more likely for her to be noticed when she made her getaway.

"I think I will." Alys responded. "If not today, then tomorrow."

"Good," Helen responded, the skin at the corner of her eyes crinkling as she smiled. "Gorge said he'd be looking for you. He also said that he'd take you aside and catch you up to the others if you want."

"Conrad probably wouldn't like the special treatment."

Helen shook her head. "You shouldn't have to walk on egg shells around that man anymore, dear. Besides, he's been quite docile now that he has a son."

"Docile," Alys snorted. "I don't think so."

"Well, less likely to bark at you for simply existing then," Helen said, using a large spoonful of lard to grease her baking pan. Alys, equally as familiar with the process of making the pans as she was with the creation of food cooked in them, sometimes wondered if she could infer herself into an apprenticeship with the local tinsmith. It would make her education, or at least potential future, that much more complete.

Without Selendrile, her future was a lot less secure. Sometimes, she thought that her lot in life would be meeting a man who didn't completely revolt her, pushing out a few kids, and dying as an overworked, unhappy housewife. Most of the times, she just daydreamed that maybe he would change his mind about everything and come back for her. She had a lot of time to think about such issues while on her back, for the last fortnight. Alys also obsessed over the lack of definite proof that he had ever been by her sickbed, attempting to nurse her back to health.

Who knew?

"I really think…" Helen broke off what she was going to say, pausing to listen to the sudden noises coming from outside. The townspeople, most of the time a quiet lot who barely made public scenes, were all shouting loudly from the center of town. Alys couldn't make out the exact words, but she could taste the apprehension and fear in the air.

"What is it?" She asked Helen.

"I don't know," the older woman responded. "The last time there was a commotion like this…"

Two things then happened at once, so close to the other that Alys wasn't able to determine which came first. A loud, familiar bellow came from out of doors, either proceeding or preceeding a scream of 'dragon!'

Alys dropped the flour-coated stirring spoon in her hand and it clanked against the wooden floor, spreading baking goods on the ground as she bolted for the door.

"Don't go… outside." Helen called uselessly in her wake.

Alys scurried along the pathway trod in the snow by previous walking feet, following it to the center of town. She had stuffed her feet into her boots while standing on the cold floor of the kitchen, her body in a permanent state of freezing these days. Now, she considered herself fortunate, as she didn't need another brush with frostbite. Her toes were still blistered from the last time, and she honestly didn't think that she would be as fortunate a second time with not losing the digits.

She rounded the corner, coming into the circle at the end of the town which served as a meeting place during the warmer months. In the center loomed a dragon, sun at its back so she couldn't determine immediately whether it was her dragon or not. Then, she was able to see small hints, such as this dragon's large, full-grown stature, and the lack of a mane on its neck. Her heart, which had been in her throat for her quick jaunt out of the house, now groaned in disappointment.

It wasn't him. She knew that before she could see that it was the color of dry dirt.

Alys sighed, thankful that her breath wasn't choppy like it would have been if she had exerted herself even a few days ago. She considered this a sign that she could go back to training in the art of killing. First, she had to figure out whether this dragon was a friend or foe. So far, only the young, elderly, and the women were congregated, wearily surrounding the beast with makeshift weapons. Alys wanted to yell at them to stand back, but she was as immobile as the rest of them. A gargantuan, dangerous creature such as a dragon in the center of town was a something to take notice of. In the distance, she could see the men running up from the field.

The dragon turned his head, surveying the warriors coming to attack him. Then he focused on Alys, eyes narrowing and nostrils flaring.

Helen finally caught up with her. "Oh my lord," she huffed.

Alys took a step into the impromptu circle around the dragon. Bowing, she kept her eyes on the dragon's, almost flinching away when he snorted. "We give our respect," she said, echoing the words Selendrile had taught her once, a long time ago in an encounter not dissimilar to this one.

"Is this the royal 'we' or do you speak for everyone?" The dragon's deep voice echoed through the open space. Alys surreptiously glanced at the people surrounding her, confused as to why they weren't reacting to his words.

More importantly was what he said. Were all fey like lawyers, trying to trick everyone with words?

"What are you doing? Get away from it!" Helen hissed behind her. "That thing is a killer."

"I see," the dragon said, inclining his head. "You do not represent the town."

"No, I don't."

"Who are you talking to?" Helen questioned her.

Alys looked behind her, though she loathed to turn her back on the unknown dragon. "Can't you hear him?"

"They cannot hear me," the dragon told her, that disdainful amusement she had always attributed to Selendrile evident in his voice. "You, however, seem to understand me perfectly."

"I don't know why." Alys's words were honest. If the dragon didn't know why he was able to communicate, then she was no closer to the answers than he.

"You're scaring me," Helen hissed.

"Do you?" Alys asked, continuing her conversation with the dragon. She was used to dealing with one of these regal, but deadly fey, and she hoped she could take a few lessons from her past to help her here. If there was one thing Selendrile had taught her, it was to never take anything he did or said for granted.

"Do I know why?" The dragon reiterated. "I believe it is because you have been touched by a great one."

Alys blushed, not remembering all the innocent brushes of Selendrile's hand against her forehead, the back of her hand, or the light pressure he used on the small of her back to guide her. Instead, she recalled with blinding clarity the way his hand had felt sliding up her leg, and the whispered weight of his body as he braced himself over her, his hand pining her to the floor.

The dragon bellowed in laughter and the townspeople jumped back, fearful of attack. Alys just glared as he tossed his head back, mirthful steam streaming from his nostrils. "That's rich," his smooth voice echoed through her head, distorted by his laughter. "Wait 'til the guys hear what Dry-el's been doin'. A human! Buahahaha."

Alys crossed her arms over her chest, her blush escalating until her face and neck were beet red. "Are you reading my mind?" Alys asked indignantly, only causing him to laugh harder. "I didn't think dragons could speak to humans."

"You mean you didn't think the one you call Selendrile could talk to humans. And he can't. I have completely different abilities than he, little one. You need not worry about your honour, it was not him I was referring to when I said you had been touched."

"Who then?"

"Ah, little virgin, for someone so innocent, you sure do have a dirty mind. I was speaking of the fairy who had you in her treacherous grasp. She left a mark of magic on you."

Alys's eyes widened.

"Don't worry about your soul," the dragon snorted fire again. "Pfft. Christians."

"Stop it!" Alys yelled, clamping her hands over her ears in an attempt to keep him from reading her thoughts. Yes, it was foolish, but she couldn't just stand there, back starting to ache from the bow she was still in. This dragon was one huge contradiction. It seemed to her that he was a mixture of formal speech, followed by youthful impropriety. If she had to guess, she would peg his age as only a bit older than Selendrile's. Maybe, she thought as her brain sped through multiple variables, including some of the 'biology' Selendrile had tried to teach her once, this dragon was only larger because his race was naturally bigger than the golden ones. Somewhat like when the French seemed to be darker sometimes than the Saxons. Selendrile had called it... geretics, or something like that.

"Genetics," the dragon supplied helpfully. "I'm starting to see why he thinks you're a promising example of the human race."

'Is he here?' Alys asked the dragon mentally, finally catching on the idea of not speaking her words out loud and not forcing him to delve into the shapes, colours, and thoughts flitting through her mind.

The dragon bared his teeth in what could be seen as a grin, but looked more like a threatening motion, like a dog about to snap. Someone behind Alys gasped, causing her to remember that they did have an audience. "You do catch on quick," the dragon complimented her, it wrapped in an insult. "He is not, but I was sent to inform the occupants of this town of an impending invasion from the south."

Alys inhaled sharply. 'Raiders? Pirates?'

The dragon inclined his head towards her. "Something like that. You have…" Then the dragon bellowed, throwing his head back in a roar which could wake the dead. Blood rained over Alys's face, hot and heavy. She blinked red out of her eyes, screaming in unison with the shriek of pain echoing through her head. Quickly, she jumped up from her bow and round around the bulky torso of the dragon, coming face to face with the band of men from the clearing, all holding their weapons. Without thinking about it, she jumped between them and the dragon.

"Stop it!" Alys screamed, her shrill voice belying her male clothing.

"Get out of the way," Conrad snarled. "Let us kill that thing."

"Do you think I'm protecting_ it_?" Alys asked, forcing a laugh into her strained voice. Conrad was an idiot. Did he expect to lead a group of men against a dragon and live? "You're a fool."

A hush fell over the crowd of men. Conrad went red, his eyes bulging and his hand tightening on his sword. Blood drilled from the tip, proving that Conrad was the one who had injured the dragon. "Move or I'll go through you."

"I'll eat him for you," the dragon offered. Alys was tempted to let him.

"No."

Conrad raised his weapon. The dragon effortlessly knocked it from his hand with his tale.

"Stop it!" Alys said again as the men brought their swords up. Before she could explain that the dragon was a friend, here to warn them about an invasion, the gigantic creature spread his wings and took off. The downward gust of wind knocked them all off balance long enough for him to make a getaway. In the air, just out of reach from the archers, the dragon paused.

"Watch out for that man, little one. It was not you I was sent to speak to."

Alys stared after the dragon, not noticing that Conrad had his wits about him again.

"You little bastard," Conrad snarled in a very pot calling kettle way. He grabbed Alys's arm, forcing her to her knees. Alys winced, but refused to give in and voice the pain he was inflicting on her. She could feel the snow through her knees, and as he twisted her arm and put pressure on her shoulder and elbow joints, she seriously wished for a weapon of some kind. It wasn't the first time she wished to inflict harm on Conrad personally, but it was the first when her rage was strong enough that she knew she would follow through if given the chance.

"Stop it," Lora said quietly, stepping up beside her husband with babe in arms. Gently, she put her free arm over his hand and miraculously he let go. Helen was right, fatherhood was making Conrad a tad more mellow. Conrad threw his arms up in the air, showing his disgust at being controlled by a woman. He stalked away, his band of merry men parting for him and then following. Some were muttering to one another about what they would do to the dragon the next time they saw him, but most knew that they were lucky to have escaped death.

"It wasn't here to harm anyone," Alys told Lora as Helen and Gorge both rushed over to make sure she was unharmed. "It could have killed us all, and Conrad gave it reason to, but it didn't."

"I know," Lora said, gently rocking the sleeping baby in her arms.

"It just wanted to warn us that the town was going to be raided in a few days."

"I didn't hear it say anything," Helen observed.

"To warn us?" Gorge asked, stroking the beginnings of a beard. Alys was grateful to him for taking the focus off Helen's remark, as she didn't know how she could possibly explain why she was able to hear the words of warning. "This is serious."

The three adults shared a meaningful look and for the first time in a long time Alys felt young.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.jan4.2007

Happy Birthday to this story! I've been writing this for a year. Unreal, I know. Everyone wish it happy birthday and make it feel loved!


	17. Chapter 17

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 17_

* * *

The visit from the dragon was the talk of the town, and soon Alys was hearing tales of her own heroism. She had confronted the beast on her own, keeping it occupied and away from the women and children until help could arrive. She was sure that by spring the people in towns as far away as the one she was born in would be hearing about the lad who slew the dragon. Conrad was livid that his part in the act was insignificant, and vowed that next time his sword would pierce the head. Alys listened to the stories, waiting for someone to mention the news of the impending attack. Gorge had promised her, PROMISED, that he would make sure the town knew well in advance. He also warned her not to mention that her intel had come from the dragon. No one had heard the dragon speak any words, and the beast was feared far beyond the capacity for these people to believe it. Alys remember the suspicion she felt towards Selendrile and agreed. It could also be said that if word got around that the dragon had warned them of an attack, the community would start to think of ulterior motives, such as separating people from others and familiar territory so they could be picked off one by one. 

As it was, Alys was the only one who actually believed the word of this dragon to be true. He actually was attempting to help, and to save everyone, if they would only listen. Actually, that wasn't completely correct. For some reason, Lora, Gorge, and his wife all seemed to take her word about what the dragon said, and knew that the town was a target. Alys was grateful that she didn't have to be the one responsible anymore. Even as the perceived hero of the dragon attack, she was still the young boy who had wandered into town before the winter chill had completely set it, and they trusted her just a tad more than they did the dragon. There was something, though, in the way the adults had readily accepted the truth that nagged at her, but she didn't have time to sit down and think about it.

It wasn't until the day after the dragon that Gorge's promise finally took hold in the minds of the townspeople. Wagons were frantically packed with necessities as families too off to live with family members in another settlement. The people were panicked, digging holes in the frozen ground to hide their silverware and valuable goods. Within a day, the population was halved.

"I will NOT leave my house!" Conrad roared. The people gathered in Farmer Garzo's house flinched at his voice, their nerves already frazzled from continuously looking over their shoulders for barbarians streaming from the woods. "I will protect my land, and not flee like a coward."

Some murmured in agreement, others stopped their plans of escape and looked sheepish.

"Do what you will," Farmer Garzo's voice boomed over the thin crowd of who was left. "But do not make decisions for others, Conrad. Of this, we have spoken of at great lengths." Conrad looked subdued at the words and Alys was surprised to learn that even he respected the man from this mysterious house. This was the second time Alys had participated in one of the town meetings, and still she could not find the source of the authoritative voice. "All of you are free to, and encouraged to leave as soon as you can. An attack from the South is serious, and we must take caution."

"We don't even know if there is an attack."

"Do you doubt me?" Garzo responded, his voice exploding through the crowd like the call of God. If Alys had any doubts as to whether this rumour was valid, she wouldn't after hearing this puzzling townsman exert his authority. The farmer continued, "those of you who want to leave should be gone by first light. Anyone who wants to stay, I suggest you at least let the women and children go to safety and to keep your weapon on you at all time."

"Old man," Conrad challenged, pulling his sword out of the sheath constantly at his side. "You can order everyone else if you want to, but never tell a real man what to do."

Alys didn't know how Conrad knew that Farmer Garzo was an old man, but then again she really didn't think Conrad had all of his marbles. Maybe someone had batted him over the head one time too many with a rock.

"Enough. I will not warn you again, Conrad. This is supposed to be a town discussion. I will not continue to speak in circles around you."

Conrad started to bluster, getting ready to retort. Alys watched as his face went red and the more observant of the people around him started to inch away. Lora was cradling her baby, her head bowed as she ignored her husband with a sense of subdued calmness. Alys was surprised to see her so much changed from the woman who stood up for the small bedraggled boy during that first meeting she had interrupted. This Lora looked to be an obedient wife who would never stand up to anyone, let alone her husband. It shocked Alys, and she felt like going over to kick some sense into the new mother. Before Conrad could speak, Garzo cut him off. "If you fear for your lives, and the lives of your families, you will listen to me and leave this place."

"Why is this happening?" Helen asked. "We are a half-day walk from the sea. Shouldn't the town of Kells be hit first?"

A murmur of agreement rose from the skeptical townspeople.

"They are being sacked as we speak," Farmer Garzo informed the suddenly hushed room. "The men are being slaughtered. The women and children captured and the town being burned to the ground."

"You're just tryin to scare us," someone said petulantly. In a room which was usually milling with people, with half capacity it was much easier to tell who spoke. No one, however, questioned this fact.

"Yes. The truth is scary sometimes," Garzo said condescendingly. Alys could imagine him looking down his nose at everyone, but it struck her again that she couldn't see him. Was his voice coming through the walls? "Now, I suggest you all go home and pack. You too Conrad."

As everyone started to file out, including Conrad, Alys loitered behind until she was the only one left. "Farmer, may I have a word with you?"

"What is it child?" His tired voice echoed through the empty room.

"Is the dragon ok?" she asked, hoping she wasn't wrong about this. There was something going on here, deeper than what people could see. She could only take a guess and hope she didn't make a fool of herself.

"The dragon?"

"The one you sent to warn us." She held her breath, holding her body rigid as she waited for a response.

The farmer chuckled. "I didn't send the dragon."

"Oh," Alys responded, slightly embarrassed and disappointed.

"I am the dragon," he pronounced with another chuckle. "The wound healed nicely. Thanks for asking."

"Oh!" Alys gaped. "But why…?"

"Did I show myself? Because the next town meeting wasn't for another fortnight."

"I see." It made sense. He needed to warn the town, and during the winter not as many people stopped by for him to settle farming disputes. "Thank you… for warning us. Are you a guardian of this town?"

This time, the disembodied voice laughed at her. "Hell no! Didn't your lover teach you anything about dragons?"

"He's not my lover!"

"Not yet, anyways…" The Voice chuckled again.

"Dragons," Alys responded prudishly. "Don't become lovers with humans."

The dragon's chuckle morphed into a cackle. The walls seemed to vibrate with his overwhelming amusement.

"What's so funny?" Alys demanded, stomping her foot.

"Nothing, nothing," the dragon placated her. "Listen. I'm glad you wanted to talk. I have a feeling that Conrad is going to stay and drag down some other innocents with him. He has this warrior complex that makes him think he can win no matter the odds."

Alys snorted.

"Yes. He is a fool. You have to convince his young wife to leave without him. Barring that, you must protect her." According to the dragon, this was the end of the conversation. Alys tried to respond, but didn't receive an answer. She could sense the lack of his presence in the way the rooms seemed larger and brighter, and the house appeared to be normal. She left feeling mentally exhausted and frightened beyond belief. Just a few miles away, a town was being destroyed, and the lives of the occupants in ruin. If ever there was a time when she needed Selendrile, it was now.

Trampling through the snow, Alys arrived at the storefront to Conrad and Lora's place. She wasn't living there anymore, and she wondered if it would be impolite if she just walked in now. Her gaze wavered between the house next door and one she was standing immediately in front of. A niggling part of her conscious knew that Conrad's temper was one of the reasons she was disinclined to walk into the house he shared with his family. Yes, she was frightened of him, but more she was scared of what he would do to Lora in her absence. When Alys had still been living there, before the baby was born, Lora still had that spark of life in her eyes, and Alys had been convinced that no matter what happened, Lora would be able to survive. Now, she wasn't so sure.

What had happened?

Taking a deep breath, Alys stepped forward and opened the door to the old tinsmith shop she had called home for a while. The door blew open, the frost winter air behind her gusting ahead and propelling Alys into the house. There, she found that she needn't worry about interrupting, as Helen and Gorge were already there.

"Would you have them die!" Gorge yelled, facing Conrad. The two women sat at the table, watching their husbands. Helen was openly curious, but Lora simply watched with tired and empty eyes as she rocked the baby.

"I'd rather they die than to experience the dishonor and shame of fleeing." Once again, Conrad drew his steel blade to enforce his power.

"Don't threaten me," Gorge said quietly. "Only an idiot would stay here and keep his wife and child here to die with him. You are no longer making decisions for one."

"I would rather be an idiot than a coward," Conrad spat.

"Not even you can win against an army of wild barbarians," Gorge responded, moving his hand away from his side. Alys recognized the move as a dismissal, as he was no longer ready to rapidly draw the dragger he kept on his belt at all times. "Old friend," Gorge said to Conrad. "The change I detect in you saddens me. There was a time you lived to serve and protect. I am leaving this place, and I'm taking your wife and child with me."

Alys was surprised when Conrad didn't immediately deny Gorge's assertion. He seemed to contemplate it, staring over at Lora at the table.

"No, I will not leave," Lora spoke up, her eyes bright with tears as she continued to rock her slumbering babe. "This is my home."

The three adults and Alys turned to stare at her. Conrad seemed to accept this, and his shoulders slumped. For the first time, Alys wondered if it was not his prerogative to stay and fight for his land. She had never thought she'd feel sorry for Conrad, but for one spark of a second, she thought she saw something noble in his stance.

"You're not making sense," Helen said, putting her arm on Lora's shoulder. Alys agreed.

"Do you still think he'll come an' save you?" Conrad mocked, rocking forward on the balls of his feet. "Do you still think he cares? That if you wait 'ere long enough, he'll come walking through the forest and you can live happily ever after? Smarten up woman."

"You knew?" Lora asked, her head snapping back in shock and tears flowing freely from her eyes. "You knew about him and yet you still forced me into this sham of a marriage?" Lora started to sob. She gathered the small child to her chest and rushed out of the room. The occupants left in the room uneasily avoided each other's eyes, awkwardly trying to think of something to say.

"We'll be leaving within the hour," Gorge said, bowing his head to Conrad and grabbing Alys's arm to physically haul her behind him. She followed, her mind whirling. What Conrad had just said, it had to have something to do with the partial secret Lora had once confided about the man she still hoped would come find her. Alys had never pried and Lora hadn't offered any other information, but Alys knew that it was at the center of Lora's less-than-happy life.

"Help us pack, child." Conrad gestured to the chest half-filled with linens, clothing, and hidden pieces of the family wealth. Woodenly, she walked over to the bed and started folding the sheets. Every once and a while she stopped to glare at Gorge as he stacked tin dishes into a straw-padded crate. "What's on your mind," he finally asked.

"We can't just leave them here," Alys cried out, completely frustrated as she threw the wadded cloth into the chest with no sense of order. "It's not right."

"We cannot force them to leave," Gorge said mildly.

"They'll die!" Alys started stomping on the cloth in the chest, packing it down to that she could close the lid.

"We'll die." Conrad carefully put down the plate in his hand and moved towards her. He put his weight on the top of the wooden box and Alys fiddled with the clasp until it closed. Gorge grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. "There is no correct answer in cases like this. We just have to pray for the best."

"I'm not going with you," she said vehemently.

"I know," he said, upturning one of her hands and placing a sheathed dagger in her palm. "I treated you like a son," his eyes twinkled here as the corner of his mouth raised in a tiny half-smile. "Even after I discovered you didn't have what it takes to be a man. Literally. Remember what I taught you, and maybe someday you can tell me the story about how Alys the dragon-slayer defeated three-hundred cannibalistic barbarians with only a small knife."

Alys laughed reluctantly, tears pooling in her eyes. "Please don't leave. I know we have a better chance with you here."

"I'll tell you one thing," Gorge said, picking up the chest effortlessly and moving towards the door. "Conrad was right. I am a coward."

It wasn't until the wagon was loaded in the dark of the night and the husband and wife were sitting on the bench, did Alys broach the subject again. "It is wise of you to leave," she told them, "but I wish you would stay."

Helen placed a hand on Gorge's shoulder. "We must go." He didn't look at either of them as he snapped the reigns and urged the horse forward. Alys stepped out of the way of the wheels, wishing them a safe journey. Their dog came around the corner of the house just after they drove out of view. It whined, butting its nose against her fingers. Alys knelt and pet it, scratching her fingers through it's fur. Then she stood, knocked on the door of Lora's house.

"Conrad is out scouting," Lora told her, ushering her in. The two of them sat in the dark, tense with fright, the dog at Alys's feet. With trembling fingers, Alys drew the silk cloth with the golden dragon head depicted in the bright silk out of the small bag she kept it in. Without seeing, she smoothed her fingers over the cloth for comfort. She was so scared. She didn't know how she was going to survive without her savior. With a jolt, she realized that wasn't true. She didn't need him. She had her own wings now.

At daybreak, the sound of marching feet was audible in the distance, rolling over the land like thunder before the lightening strikes.

* * *

RelenaFanel.Jan29.2007

So. You guys want to hear something weird? I'm not bilingual by any means, but I grew up being taught English and French at the same time (like, I imagine, most Americans are taught Spanish). I've always written my sentence structure as I would write it in French, and though I forced myself out of that habit, you can see it in some spots in this chapter. The fun part is that I'm barely coherent in French, so it isn't like anything good came out of the schooling. Anyway, this chappie is for TrumpetGeek, since I promised it would be done during the weekend and I reneged a bit on that. So bonne chance!

POLL: Do you think Gorge should come back?

Anyone want to take a guess what happens next?


	18. Chapter 18

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 18_

* * *

"We're making ourselves targets," Alys pointed out with reason. She had the dagger Gorge had given her clutched in one hand, and her sweaty palms slid against the handle until she realized it would be no use as a weapon if she couldn't maintain a hold on it. Relaxing her fingers, she kept the sheathed weapon on her lap and a plank of wood by her side. If anyone came through the front door, they'd have to get through her to get to Lora and the baby.

"I can't leave here." Lora's knuckles were white in fear from where she wrung the wool of her dress, and the corners of her mouth were pursed as she chewed on the inside of her cheeks.

"We can't stay," Alys argued crossly. "What about the baby?"

"Don't try to guilt me using Avery!" Lora snapped. "Don't try to delegate, Alys. You do not know what is best to me and mine."

"I'm beginning to think you don't either." Alys was about to say something further when she heard a noise from outside beyond the sound of the baby whimpering. Jumping to her feet, she rushed to a defensive stance behind the door with the plank of wood grasped so tightly in her hands that splinters were digging into the flesh of her palms. She waited, prepared to attack.

The door flew open with a bang as this particular one was wont to do. Lora gasped, and Alys braced herself to attack. Conrad stepped through the door, giving her a nod of approval. Alys considered whacking him across the knees anyway, just because. She didn't, partially because he was basically their only defense against the raiders, but also because her guilty conscious wouldn't allow her to harm someone for no reason. Her jumping adrenaline relaxed, and her arms slumped as he slammed the door audibly behind him.

"Constant vigilance!" Conrad snapped, causing her to stiffen in alarm and wish she had hit him after all. He stomped his boots on the floor, slushy mud falling over the hardwood. This struck Alys as ironic, as on normal days he would just walk in and trail the mess all over the house, but today when she might not live to clean it up, he was being considerate.

"What's happening?" Lora asked, rocking the baby.

"I've sent a boy out to scout the area. When he reports back, we'll know more."

"And if he doesn't?" Alys asked.

"Then we know they're closer than expected and he was killed." Conrad shrugged, seemingly uncaring about the life of whatever small boy he had sent out into the wilderness to locate a band of wild killers and return undetected with news. Alys was a bit more human than this, and hoped the lad returned soon, but not too soon because then they'd have less time before an attack.

"How many people are left in town," Alys questioned, sitting down at the kitchen table and putting her dagger at her elbow.

"Including women, children, invalids, and the elderly?" Conrad replied, digging through wooden box sitting in the corner of the kitchen. Alys had seen the top contents many times, as it consisted of his collection of weapons. Out came the bow and arrows, the sword, and various other smaller weapons he strapped to various parts of his body. He then pulled a shirt of mail over his torso and tied the sword around his waist. It struck Alys as odd to see him so decked out and awaiting battle. Usually she associated Conrad as fearless, and she had seen him fight with no inhibitions in the training ring. She felt a ribbon of fear travel through her at the danger they were all in. It still didn't feel real to her, but she knew now that the seriousness of the situation could not be defined by the words áttack'or 'sacking' or even 'imminent death.'

"Yes," Alys responded quietly, beginning to worry. She didn't know if she wanted more warriors to enhance the chance of survival, or for less people to die here.

"About fifteen."

Alys stared. Fifteen. Was that all? And that number included women, children, etc. "Not including?"

"Three."

Her shoulders slumped, and Alys leaned over the table with a sense of hopelessness. "Only three? What if we add the boys you've been training?"

"Three. Me, Robert, and you."

"Don't include me," Alys sighed, frowning as she stared at her hands. "I don't believe I'd be very helpful in a fight."

"Two, then." Conrad accepted, sounding as though he hadn't really been counting her. His voice was tinged with an element of excitement, as though he was reigning himself in from going to find the barbarians now and attack before they could expect it. Her life was dependant on Conrad being as good as he thought he was. It was a daunting reality for Alys to be dependant on someone she barely even liked, and Robert, whoever he was.

Her depression set in just as fat snowflakes began to fall from the sky. It was too cold for rain.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"They're on the outskirts of town." The call went up around noon, and Conrad started to prepare in earnest. All morning he had been creating defenses around the town, trying to make it seem as though the place was deserted. The remaining citizens were hidden in the back rooms of Farmer Garzo's house, and Alys knew that they were safer there than she would be. Conrad stood in the center of the house as a proud warrior, his bow over one shoulder and a sheif of arrows on his back.

"Godspeed." Lora told him.

Conrad grabbed her arm, taking care not to unsettle the baby. "Everyone is gathered in Farmer Garzo's house. You'll join them along with the baby as Ellis and I fight."

"I will not leave my house!" Lora yelled.

"Don't be foolish, woman!"

"You will not strong-arm me into obeying you. I am not yours to command."

"This is not the time to be obstinate," Conrad hissed, pausing as he listened to the sound of metal hitting stone. A war-cry went up as the enemies reached the first buildings and found them empty of both people and valuable possessions. "It's too late," Conrad told them, starting to move the bed aside. "You'll have to hide in the cellar."

For a moment, Alys though Lora was going to refuse him. Then she slipped through the exposed hole in the floor and crawled under the space beneath the house. Alys moved to hand the baby down to his mother, steeling herself to leave the safety of the house and fight to her death. For hours, she had been praying for Selendrile to show up, and it frightened her to admit that she hoped it to come true. Sure, she did believe she was self-sufficient, but the more frightened she got, the more she wished for him to show up in dragon form and scare the badguys away.

"You too," Conrad said, gesturing for Alys to move into the cellar. "Protect the baby," he told her when it became apparent she was going to argue.

Once Alys climbed into the freezing, dank hole beneath the house and the door above her was closed to bar them in, she turned to Lora. The other woman was sitting beside her, back pressed against the damp earth of the cellar wall. The dank smell reminded Alys of forgotten decaying food and the cave she had lived in for months of her life. The overwhelming blackness brought her comfort instead of hear, and she reverted back to relying on her other senses when she couldn't see. The space was small and confining, and Lora's shaking side was pressed against her own.

"Are you cold?" Alys whispered, gathering the baby closer to her for protection.

"No," Lora sniffed. "This would have been easier if he had been selfish."

"What?" Alys asked, knowing she had missed something important. She wondered if Lora was referring to her decision to stay in her home when she said 'this' as it was the only thing she could think the other woman might be talking about. Alys wondered if Lora felt guilt for insisting to stay here, and why she had been so unmovable with her convictions. It was as though she KNEW something that the rest of them didn't.

Ï heard what he said to you, about protecting Avery."

"It's only natural for him to want to protect his child," Alys began to point out.

Lora laughed bitterly. "Avery isn't his."

"What?" Alys repeated, stunned again by another revelation.

"It was never a secret. Conrad wed me knowing I was carrying."

Alys stared into the darkness, knowing that the pieces were starting to come together, but it was as though they were from different puzzles. She couldn't make heads nor tails of the overall picture, and she felt like the newcomer again. "Who's the father?"

"That isn't the question to ask," Lora said, then falling silent without clarification.

Alys didn't ask what was. She left the conversation as it was and hoped for a chance to ask again later. The silence was heavy on the air like the stench of the small room, and Alys started to doze off with nothing to keep her awake. She was jolted out of the slumber by a sound from above. Reflexively, she almost asked Lora in a hushed voice whether she had heard anything, but self preservation kept her silent. Objects moved above her as the house was ransacked, and there was nothing she could do about it. Furthermore, there was nothing she wanted to do about it. She could hear someone swear at the lack of goods in this town.

"Find anything?" Alys could hear Conrad ask tightly, and the movements above halted.

"This your place?" The other voice asked.

"No," Conrad replied with a whisper of steel.

Alys sat huddled in the tiny cellar room, petrified into stillness as a battle ensued above her. She could hear the heavy treads of footsteps as the fighters above matched their skills to determine who lived and who died. Swords screamed against each other, and the breathing of the two men becamed clipped and rasping.

Finally, after what seemed like eons, a body fell to the floor. Fingers scuttled over the wood, clawing in the last throws of death. Alys held her breath, waiting for a sign that it was Conrad who was victorious.

"There ain't nothin' 'ere."

Alys had to hold a hand over her mouth to keep from wailing aloud as she realized that Conrad had not won. The town was now helpless without its hero and she felt a sense of extreme guilt for hiding like a coward. Sitting on the floor beneath the hatch, she stared up at the wood, willing her vision to see what was beyond it. Maybe Conrad wasn't dead her frantic brain thought as water splashed down from above and ran down her face like a tear. Perhaps he was merely unconscious. The water was followed by another, the rivulet trailing by the corner of her mouth. It wasn't until she inhaled the cloying copper taste did she identify what it truly was.

Blood.

©RelenaFanel.Feb26.2007

My computer is busted (again) and I have a migraine from writing this on a crappy old computer with a flickering screen in the computer lab. I wrote it out on paper first, along with half of the next chapter. The person sitting next to me on the train started to inch away from me and I realized that it was pretty morbid, so you all have that to look forward to later.


	19. Chapter 19

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 19_

* * *

_Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands  
Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo_

My Chemical Romance – The Sharpest Lives

* * *

**Author's Note:** At first, I was slightly disappointed with the feedback I received for the last chapter, but then I went back and read it the other day and understood. It really did suck a bit more than usual. So I forgive you guys for not reviewing and also thank you for not openly criticizing it. I promise to go back and fix it if I have time (or, more likely, remember/care enough). I think this chapter more than makes up for any disappointments chapter 18 may have caused. It deviates so much from my original plan that I was slightly shocked at the outcome. I love it when that happens.

* * *

.x.

The baby was wailing, with loud wet sobs they couldn't keep quiet. It was as though his innocent young soul could sense the evils of death and destruction around him, and he cried as the darkness touched his purity. Alys knew that he instinctively understood something was wrong, and she wondered if he was picking up on what was going on outside the room, or if he could simply feel the fear of the two women stuck within it.

"Shut him up," Alys hissed at Lora. She had her lips between her teeth, worrying at the delicate flesh until it was raw, with torn, bitten skin.

"I can't."

"Put your hand over his mouth," Alys suggested. She was crouched in a defensive stance beneath the door above. Her back ached from the cramped position, and her hand was growing sweaty on the pommel of her dagger again. She switched hands, wiping her palm against her pants.

"And suffocate him?" Lora snarled indignantly.

Alys was tempted for the briefest of seconds to do it herself. She gave one of her trademark sighs, this one as shallow and long-drawn as she could make it, so that it was more of a normal expel of breath than it was a show of her impatience. "I have to open the trap door," she explained. "The sound of his crying won't be muffled and he might be heard. I just need a minute. Please."

Alys didn't know how much Lora was aware of what had happened above them; she didn't know whether the other woman knew her husband was dead. Lora shifted without another word, pulling Avery closer to her bosom. Quickly, Alys took the reprieve and pushed upwards with her shoulders, unsure of the resistance which would greet her. It easily popped open, and Alys felt relief wash over her upon discovery that Conrad's body wasn't trapping them in. She left an inch raised, her eyes pressed closely to the crack so she could determine if the coast was clear.

The left side of her face was tight with Conrad's drying blood, making her want to find some water and wash before she did anything. It was stiffening in her hair, making her skin sticky, and she was aware of the coating each time her facial muscles moved to speak or frown. The sheer amount of it dripping down the wall through the floorboards was what had alerted her to the fact they might have a greater problem than keeping the baby quiet.

Such as a blood trail leading straight to them.

Determining that it was now or never, Alys pushed back the cellar door, exposing them all to the bright natural light. Lora gasped, getting a good look at Alys as her eyes began to adjust. Alys didn't even take a minute to inhale in the clean air, but she did have a fleeting contemplation about leaving the cellar door open if it meant being able to breathe without the scent of decay and death. Quickly, she surveyed Conrad's body with a critical detachment made through necessity. As she had feared, his blood had poured from a grinning gash in his neck, immediately puddling on the floor and flowing downwards like a florid arrow straight toward their hiding spot. It was as effective as a sign screaming "spoils of war hidden here" to anyone who knew how to look.

"Hell," Alys muttered, reaching across the door and grabbing one of the quilts from the bed. She pressed it into the remaining blood pooling under the body, marvelling at the sheer amount of liquid which a human containered. Once the top of the vibrantly sewn bedding was soaked red, she attempted to stuff it under Conrad's body so it appeared as though he had fallen on it, and he had naturally bled out into the absorbing material. As far as plans went, it probably wasn't the best she could come up with if she was able to think rationally, but the longer the door to their hiding place was open, the more likely it was that someone would notice. She also was painfully aware that the baby couldn't be kept silent for much longer.

Sweat trickled down her spine as she grabbed Conrad's head and tried to wedge the blanket beneath him. His dead weight was far heavier than she expected it to be, and again she thought about and was thankful for the fact he hadn't landed on top of the door. Her stomach churned as she maneuvered the still-warm body, so soon after she had heard him die to save her life. He had never been one of her favourite people, but in death he was beyond reproach.

Once she was finished, Alys took a precious second to critically survey the scene she had set up. It wouldn't fool someone who dealt with death every day, but so long as the pillagers didn't look too closely, she thought it might be a passable cover.

Too bad she never had the chance to test it out.

One of the bandits entered the house, pausing for a moment with his crude sword drawn as he took in the sight of her half-in the ground before the dead body of her kinsman. The baby cried and the strange man gave her a wide, excited grin which was made alarming by toothless black gaps and the scar extending from the corner of his mouth to his ear, making the wicked smile stretch obscenely like the devil itself grabbed his mouth and pulled.

Alys gasped, grabbing the edge of the door and slamming it shut behind her.

"We're found," she hissed to Lora, her voice tight with dread. She couldn't see the other woman in the dark, but the baby started to sob louder. For a moment, Alys wanted to reach out and grab Lora's hand, seeking out the motherly comfort for herself. Instead, she could now see why Conrad had placed her in here. He was not protecting her as Alys had thought, but instead had known his foolish wife would be found eventually. Alys actually was meant to be the last line of defence.

"I seen you, little boy." The call was a taunt, and Alys tried to quell the feeling of panic rushing through her at the idea of being trapped. She stood, bent at the waist with her head pressing slightly against the boards of wood above her. She didn't know what to do, but she knew it needed to be done as soon as he tried to lift the door and expose them. The wood was heavy and it would incapacitate at least one of his hands to simply open it.

A crack of light appeared as the door began to lift. Alys struck, stabbing her dagger through the leather of the man's boots and into his toes. She then twisted the knife so it wouldn't get stuck, but also to extol maximum damage, and yanked it back out. The enemy howled, shrieking in pain and fury. Rather than retreating, Alys pushed up on the door with her knife braced in her hands and used the upwards motion as her attack. Her weapon slid into the soft skin over the man's stomach, and Alys continued dragging it upwards until she was fully standing and the dagger jerked to a stop as it hit hard-boned ribs. The man gasped wetly as he struggled unsuccessfully against death, and more blood showered over Alys's front, coating her in a furious red.

The body fell forward, pressing the wound close against Alys's face. She reeled backwards, tumbling back into the hole with the weight of her actions falling on top of her. She landed on the rocky ground with a bone-jarring thump, and a second later the man landed on top of her with a sickening wallop. Alys's breath was knocked out of her, and she struggled against her closed wind-pipes for a hint of air. She finally managed to take a breath, but it was a panicked sob, sounding like a hiccup in the horror-silenced darkness.

The dead mass pressed down on her, suffocating her and inducing a sense of claustrophobia. Alys clawed at his shoulders, her hands ineffectual in her terror. "Get him off," she wailed, her shrill voice uncontrolled after all her careful work to keep their hiding spot hidden. She started to kick her legs in an attempt to dislodge the body and they scratched against the rock floor ineffectually. Tears trickled pink rivulets down her face, washing away lines of drying blood and curving towards her ears like the war-paint of a barbarian warrior.

"I've got the baby," Lora reminded her in a soothing voice. The baby was howling, Alys was panicking, and the door was wide-opened to let the noise permeate the air outside, unmuffled. Once this fact hit Alys, almost harder than the dead body falling on top of her, she was able to calm herself to the point of rationality. Her heart-beat slowed, and instead of trying to push the barbarian off her, she scuttled out from under him.

Alys crouched beside the body, staring upwards at the open doorway. There was no way she could lift the man back out and there had been hardly enough room in the cellar for two. For a moment, she deliberated over whether she should close the cellar door again, and effectively trap them with death, or leave it open, inviting their own death in. In the dim light shining through the hole in the floor Alys could see Lora jiggling the baby, whispering calming words and songs into the small lad's ear. A quietness washed over her in that moment, and Alys knew that there was no way she would live through the night.

"If you ever see Selendrile, could you tell him how I died?"

"Alys!" Lora gasped. "What are you talking about? You aren't going to die!"

Alys snorted, half a laugh and half a sob. She dragged in a breath, fortifying herself to tell one of the only secrets she guarded in her heart. It wouldn't matter if she said the words out loud now. Maybe, by sharing them as a final message, they could do some good. "If you see him, tell him I loved him."

Lora nodded solemnly, and Alys was taken aback by the tears which welled out of the other woman's eyes. "How will I know him?"

She was tempted in that moment to instruct Lora to look for the golden dragon, that she couldn't possibly miss it, but other secrets needed to be taken to the grave. "He's the only one who cares enough to look," Alys finally said. She wasn't sure if that was even true.

"What are you planning?"

Alys said nothing in return. Instead she stood, pausing for a moment to pilfer the short sword sheathed to dead man's side. Quickly, she jumped out of the hole, looking down at the faces below as she closed the door behind her. Standing above, she tried to give Lora a reassuring and confident grin, but it came out as more of a grimace. Then she closed the door with a muffled thud, standing over it and wondering what she was supposed to do now. What WAS she planning?

A small voice inside her said she wasn't planning anything-- she was just tired of waiting. This was the same type of rationality which had her throwing rocks at dragons. Selendrile had once asked her where that girl had gone, and Alys now knew. That girl was the part of her born out of fear and desperation, the hidden strength that rarely showed itself in day-to-day life, but fueled her when all else failed.

"I won't let you down," Alys whispered, and she didn't know if it was directed at Lora huddled protectively over her child below, to Selendrile, Gorge, or any number of the ghosts from her past, or to THAT girl, who she would rely on more than anyone else in the hours to come. The words boosted her confidence, and she turned towards the front door with steel in her eyes to match the weaponry belted at her waist.

She didn't have to wait long.

"Hey Dillon! Dill, you lazy bum. Did you find some woman and are keeping her for yerself?" The heavy tread of the yelling man's boot got nearer to the door. Alys flattened herself against the wall, keeping her breathing shallow. The man walked through the door with the easy sense of assurance of someone who knew there were no dangers ahead. His weapon was carelessly trailing behind him, turned on the belt so it was more of a tail than a side-arm, and if he had been wearing any armour at any point, it had long-since been removed for comfort. Alys wasn't jaded enough to sneer before attacking. Quickly, she struck from behind like a coward, fighting dirty and severing the spinal cord at the neck. The man staggered forward from the force of her blow, his knees finally catching up with his immediate death as he tumbled to the ground.

This time, she didn't get any blood on her at all, and her stomach didn't get quite so queasy at the sight of her own evil. Later, though, it would be this defenceless kill which kept her up at night, tired eyes streaming tears of blame and shame. Darkness fell, a drape of blackness falling over a very long day. Earlier, she had caught a cat-nap in the cellar, so while she wasn't refreshed, she was wired and alert enough not to fall asleep now in her position of defence. Hours passed and no one attempted to enter the house. Alys's muscles cramped and seized, and she began to feel restless again. It would be a fatal mistake, she told herself, to go looking for trouble.

She now had a plan.

The house was one of the larger, better built ones in the town. She knew that the men who invaded her town would probably billet here for the night. From where she stood, she could hear the boisterous sounds of men laughing at recounted stories and getting drunk off alcohol and their own power. She worried about the remaining people in farmer Garzo's house. Had they made it? Or were they part of the ribaldry from outside, a source of amusement for the men?

Alys was so caught up in her suspicions she almost didn't hear the soft footsteps approaching the door. They were the tread of a true warrior, always on guard for trouble. Alys the girl did not recognize this, but a primal part of her new-born violent side did, and relished the challenge. The approaching enemy couldn't, however, mask the sound or the sight of the wooden panel creaking open, and Alys's weapon was ready as the man stepped into the room.

She attacked from behind again, her sword silently slashing through the air. Her opponent ducked, going under her swing and coming back up inside her reach. His strong hand grabbed her wrist, and his momentum forced her backwards. Alys slammed into the wall, her arm twisted at head-level. Her sword clattered to the ground at her feet, and she was barely able to keep a whimper of dismay from passing through her lips.

"I should kill you for that," he snarled violently. Alys groped blindly with her free hand for the dagger she had hidden on her belt. She managed to get it half-way out of the sheaf, the blade shlicking against the protective covering. He grabbed her hand with an unrelenting grip, forcing her to pull the blade up. Then, her own hand was turned against her and the tip of the dagger dug into the soft muscle of her stomach. Alys quivered, shaking with fear. She barely considered the cosmic irony that she would die the same way as the first man she had killed.

"No," she gasped.

Her opponent inhaled harshly, his face so close to her own she could feel his breath. He groaned, and a flare of light from outside illuminated his wild eyes. Alys finally understood as the dagger clattered to the floor beside her sword. He slammed into her, forcing both her hands above her head so she strained to stand on her toes as his lips violently forced hers to yield. The kiss tasted of aged blood and even older frustration. His fingers relaxed, then let go of her wrists completely. Her arms fell naturally against his shoulders, hands diving into the silk of his long hair as she searched for something to hold on to. His strong grasp found her waist, sliding lower, and he aggressively yanked her hips against his. Alys moaned, her breath tiny gasps of yearning, as she rubbed her body against his.

Selendrile withdrew, staring at her silently. "You smell like death," he offered as an explanation.

©RelenaFanel.March31.2007

Mmmnh. Review!


	20. Chapter 20

**_To Lure a Dragon_**

**_Chapter 20_**

* * *

_There are promises broken and promises kept  
Angry words that were spoken, when I should have wept  
There's a chapter of secrets, and words to confess  
If I lose everything that I possess  
There's a chapter on loss and a ghost who won't die  
There's a chapter on love where the ink's never dry  
There are sentences served in a prison I built out of lies._

_Sting – The Book Of My Life_

* * *

.x.

* * *

Alys stared at Selendrile, her lips tingling and her heart drumming from his kiss. Her mouth felt tender, already raw from the worried nibbling she had been subjecting it to during the past twenty-four hours. In the dark, he was the shape of a mere man staring back at her with a puzzling look on his face, but she knew that he was far more beastly than that. Silently, she raised one of her arms and struck him across the face. The slap resounded through the war-wrought house like the startling boom of the first attack, and they both cringed. 

Her eyes were narrowed in a furious glare, but inside her heart reeled, spitting out blood from the wounds he was inflicting on her. It was dangerous, she knew, for him to make her entertain any notion of a happily ever after. This was not one of his Arthurian Romances, and he had already let her know where she stood with him. It wasn't fair for him to tell her there was no way for them to be "together" and then kiss her so violently that it made her blood boil and body feel wondrously strange. "I should stab you," Alys hissed.

Selendrile smiled, looking meaningfully at the two sharp knives of differing sizes he had already taken from her with barely any effort. As he was making his point, she made one of her own and grabbed her last weapon out from the small of her back, thrusting it beneath his chin below the ear. She didn't press hard enough for the sharp edge to break the skin, but she knew he could feel the warm blade held threateningly against his neck.

"You've changed," he said approvingly, the small smile still gracing his lips. Alys could barely make it out in the dark, but somehow she knew it was there. It was the same comfort with his habits that made her aware that she never would have gotten this third knife on him if he hadn't let her. The edge of her fury dissipated, and she removed the weapon and slid it back into her belt with a sigh.

"I haven't," she insisted, though she knew his words were true. Alys bent stiffly, resheathing the dagger Gorge had given her only twenty-four hours and a lifetime ago. She hefted the short-sword, twirling it in her hand as she presented it to him hilt first. "Do you want it?"

Selendrile raised an eyebrow, taking the sword from her carefully as though worried he would accidentally slice her hand with the blade. "I have never been on the safe end of one of these," he said, the sword swiftly slicing through the air in a deft movement Alys's eye could barely follow.

"There is no safe end," Alys told him, unfastening the scabbard from her belt and tossing it aside. She didn't ask if he thought he could handle the weapon or not; his whole body was one amazingly toned weapon, and she knew that he could kill without hesitation. It wasn't Selendrile who was playing pretend. "Why are you here?"

"Why shouldn't I be here?" His voice was mild with a combination of amusement and self-assurance with his actions.

"You abandoned me in this town," she reminded him, her whispers sharp and as deadly as the blade in his hand. "Abandonment usually doesn't mean rushing to the rescue like some chivalrous knight."

Selendrile snorted. "I've never been very far," he said cryptically. "Besides, it's rather obvious that you do not need rescuing."

"That depends," Alys informed him. "How many men are outside?"

He paused, cocking his head to one side in thought. It appeared as though he were listening and counting the number of souls outside. Alys wasn't quite sure if he had the predator skills to do so, but if any creature could count heartbeats or breathing patterns, it would be a dragon. "Now THAT depends on which door you take. There are about twenty out front, less if you don't count the ones in a drunken coma. I suspect there are one or two out back as well, standing guard. A talented girl like you could probably deal with them without a problem."

Alys bared her teeth at him in a facsimile of a threatening smile. "Are we going out back? What about farmer Garzo and the other townsfolk?"

"Who?"

"The brown dragon you left me with. The one who thinks he's funny."

Selendrile's body language turned sheepish. He ran his fingers through his hair, his head bowed a little more than normal and his shoulders hunched in a shrug. "You weren't supposed to find out about that."

"I think," Alys told him, crouching on the ground in a half-sitting squat. Her legs were tired from standing for roughly six hours and she felt that if anyone were going to notice the two of them, their conversation would have already betrayed their whereabouts. In short, she was tired and now had an unexpected chance to take a break. "This attack on the town changed everything about your plan. This was supposed to be a safe place, wasn't it? Where I could learn to integrate myself into human life and where you had someone keeping an eye on me?"

Selendrile didn't respond.

"Safe!" Alys snorted. "This place has never been safe for me. On the first day some old pervert tried to take me hom…"

"Alys," Selendrile broke off her ramblings with a harsh word. She immediately tensed, popping to her feet with her weapon readied. He shook his head slightly to indicate that he wasn't warning her of an imminent attack. "They're all safe. Your farmer Garzo spirited them away before the town was even attacked. You're the only one left."

Alys was wary of his use of the term 'spirited away', as it brought to mind magical things she wasn't sure her brain could even comprehend. She wondered if this was yet another euphemism for 'dead'. The image of her being the only one left and defending a homefront which didn't even exist anymore left her reeling, and for a moment she wondered why she was putting her life on the line if there was no one left to protect. "Lora!" She breathed, and it answered the internal questions circling in her mind. "I'm protecting Lora and the baby. She won't leave her home."

"Force her," Selendrile suggested, as though the answer was that simple.

Alys agreed with him. "Do I look like I could pick up a woman and drag her out the door?"

Selendrile smiled, his hand brushing along her tense shoulder. "You do," he affirmed.

"Well." Alys huffed, not sure if that was a compliment or an insult. "She wouldn't come willingly. And if she kicked up a fuss, it'd draw attention-"

"Where is she?" Selendrile interrupted Alys's explanation. Alys nodded towards the hatch in the floor, wondering what Selendrile was going to do. Would he, she speculated, pick Lora up and force her to safety? Did he have any fey tricks up his sleeve? Maybe he could do the impossible and make Lora see reason. Selendrile took one step towards the interior of the house, Alys watching his back thoughtfully. Both of them paused with nary a breath as the slightest of sounds scuffed the stones outside. Alys flattened herself up against the wall behind the door, leaving Selendrile standing unconcealed in the center of the floor. In the glint of the moonlight and the burning fire of one of the other houses, the smile on his face was feral anticipation for bloodshed. His eyes glinted with excitement, and he had the sword held in front of him effortlessly, in a natural pose Alys had never recognized before. He looked as though the sword was just a prop, and the real danger lay in the man who wielded it.

Selendrile's body language spoke only the truth this time.

His eyes glinted with threat, the lights causing his harmless, amethyst-tinted eyes to appear as burning topaz. Alys's breath caught in her throat, not out of fear but because his image was both frightening and hauntingly beautiful at the same time. Her heartbeat sped up and in the middle of this perilous moment, when neither of them knew what awaited them outside, Alys had to fight the urge to touch her finger to her lips and caress them in a bereft and wishful state. This finely honed and bloodthirsty man was the same one who had kissed her only minutes before.

The door swung back towards her, and Alys grew taut, her breath becoming shallow as she prepared for any eventuality. The uncertainty of the unknown frightened her, but it also gave her a sense of Selendrile's excitement. There was something almost seductive about facing possible death with a dragon by her side; something assuring about his powers which made her believe that no matter what happened she would make it out alive. The hope was overpowering, and Alys had to remind herself not to grow too confident.

"You there," a voice called out from the door, addressing Selendrile. "Who are you? You one of Dick's men?" Selendrile smiled, straightening his posture as the man took a step into the room.

"No," Selendrile responded in a low voice. The newcomer took a step forward in order to hear him, not thinking for one second that Selendrile was a threat. Selendrile lashed out with one sure stroke of his arm, slicing his sword steadily through the bone and flesh of the neck in a movement so swift Alys thought for a moment he had missed. It wasn't until the head tumbled to the floor and rolled towards her, eyes opened wide, that Alys remembered the promise Selendrile had made her long ago. He had promised to never kill humans. The dead eyes on the floor stared at her, condoning her for being so uncaring of this perfidy. She shrugged, watching Selendrile as he eyed the fresh kill on the floor carnivorously. It was then that she recalled that he had never promised not to kill humans, just to not eat them. Despite the situation, she was surprisingly relieved to find he had not broken a promise to her after all.

Selendrile raised his eyes to glance at her, the primal hunger in them pulling at her gut and making her gasp. It wasn't fear of him that caused that reaction, she told herself, but she was equally in denial of what it could be. She took a step towards him, and his mouth began to curve into the beginnings of a suggestive smile, but then stopped as his eyes focused behind her. Alys ducked, pivoting on her heel so she was facing whoever had snuck up unawares. Something whizzed by her ear, and behind her Selendrile grunted as it impacted against his body. Alys now faced the front door, watching as an archer nocked another arrow. In that moment between him fitting his bow and shooting, Alys panicked, knowing that this arrow would probably finish her off. She ripped her dagger out of the sheath, flicking her wrist as she pitched it through the air at the archer. The metal blade imbedded itself in his leg with a sickening thump, the force causing him to stagger back. The arrow went wild. Alys frowned at the discrepancy from where she aimed and where the weapon hit, knowing she should have done better. From behind her Selendrile muttered a low but obscene curse as he ripped the arrow out of his flesh. Alys smiled, sighing in relief at the fact he was still alive.

"Good reflexes," he complimented her, his voice slightly tight with pain. Selendrile took a step forward, standing beside her as an equal with one hand pressed against his shoulder to staunch the bleeding. They both watched as the man with the bow groped with shaky hands for another arrow. Blood poured down his leg, and he was lurching to keep upright. "He'll pass out in a second," Selendrile promised with confidence. Alys raised an eyebrow, only mildly impressed as the archer fell backwards, lying still as though dead.

"Get Lora. I want to get out of this place." Alys gestured towards the hatch in the floor. "I'm going to retrieve my dagger and do some recon. That was just a tad too obvious for my liking." Alys walked calmly towards the door, using the frame to hide herself from the outside before he could argue with her and point out that either the dagger wasn't important enough for her to risk her life or there was no rational reason why he couldn't be the one to do it. She didn't want to have to poke the gaping, but rapidly healing, wound in his shoulder to get her point across. From her vantage point she stared at the man who had almost managed to kill Selendrile. Would it have been her fault for ducking out of the way? If she hadn't, would she be dead right now? The man, still unmoving on the ground, didn't answer her silent questions. Alys was grateful.

She glanced outside, not seeing anyone hiding in wait for her. Quickly, she edged over and knelt by the side of her newest victim, and though his chest was raising and falling, she felt some remorse. He was closer to her age than he was a man, and Alys wondered how easy it would be to find yourself on the wrong side due to circumstances. What was the "wrong side" anyway? Before Selendrile, she hadn't questioned the idea of 'us' and 'them', but now she could see that warriors were the same on either side of a war. What would have happened to her if Selendrile hadn't taken an interest? It was a question for later. She said a quick prayer and ripped her dagger from muscle and flesh, watching with a mute horror as blood bubbled from the wound. For a second she didn't know whether to try to stop the bleeding or strike again with her blade and put the injured boy out of his misery. Instead, she fled back into the house like a coward, closing the door behind her and resting her head against the hard panel of wood in a moment of rest.

"Are you Selendrile?" Alys could hear Lora ask from the hole in the floor. She looked in the general direction, thankful that it was dark and the bloodshed in the house was covered in a blackened veil of sin in the night. Alys sighed, wearily scrubbing her face with the palm of her hand. Dried blood flaked off her skin, and she knew she'd be forever stained. "Alys gave me a message for you. She said-"

Alys suddenly became alert, jumping away from the door and yelling the word 'noooo' in an attempt to both stop Lora from saying the message and to cover it up. It wasn't until the screech emerged from her mouth did she realize the implications the call had to their predicament. All this time, it had been her who had been so careful to hide their location, and yet she was the one who ended up being the greatest threat towards revealing it. Alys clamped a hand over her mouth, coming to a halt half-way through the room with her eyes wide and frantic. She stared at Selendrile, his eyes still glinting in the dim light. She could see the worry caused by her outburst in his countenance, but she couldn't tell if it had been successful or not. Alys didn't know if her message had been heard. A dragon has better hearing than a human, after all, and her attempt to drown out Lora's voice would have been weak in comparison. All she could hope for was that Lora cut off half-way through her sentence. It felt strange to be staring at Selendrile awkwardly over a graveyard of bodies and stranger still to know that if her secret was out it might be a relief.

She didn't know if he knew she loved him. Alys opened her mouth, realizing that to save her pride she needed to say the words herself. "Selendrile---"

©RelenaFanel.April29.2007

Ha! Feel free to review and tell me how evil I am! After this chapter I expect there to be one or two more, but that's it. Horrified? Me too. Luckily for you (but perhaps unlucky for me) I have a sequel plan. Oh! And I joined myspace recently. I would love it if you friended me. My user-name is relenafanel. Don't make me wheedle for friends, since I have about three at the moment and one is my sister.

And remember to review!


	21. Chapter 21

**To Lure a Dragon**

_Chapter 21_

* * *

x.x.x.x.x.

.x.

* * *

"Selendrile-" Alys began, her good intentions trailing off as he turned towards her, his congenial mask slipping away to show frozen horror as he moved in her direction, her name emerging from his lips as he stretched out his hand. She saw all this in slow motion, and yet her reflexes weren't quick enough to dodge the arrow flying at her back. She was probably fortunate she didn't try. Alys blinked at Selendrile, a rushing whistle passing by her right ear. She could see the white tail feathers steering the path once the arrow barely missed her head and continued on course, towards Lora. 

Selendrile made a grab for the arrow mid-flight, but he was slightly too far away for his fingers to successfully circle around the shaft and halt the journey. A fraction of a second later it quivered an inch from the bundle in Lora's arms, the stagnant arrow vibrating in mid-air as though it still had energy to continue moving but was unable. It hovered like that just long enough for the eye to register what was happening before dropping harmlessly to the floor.

"Witch!" The injured archer hissed from the threshold, his wounded body prone and curled protectively around his bow. This time, Alys realized, she wasn't the one being insulted. With her foot, she stretched and nudged the front door closed.

Lora's head was bent over her son, whispering words of comfort into his ear. Alys took a step towards them and Lora raised her head, eyes immediately locking with Alys's. Lora's expression was calm and confident, and Alys was struck by how unconcerned she was about the fact her baby almost died.

"I told you," Lora murmured just loud enough for Alys to hear. "I couldn't leave the house."

"The house protected you?" Alys asked, confused but also intrigued.

"No. It protected Avery."

Why? Alys was about to ask when Selendrile cocked his head to the side and stared at the small child. "I believe," he spoke. "That the young prince defended himself."

Young prince? Alys was barely able to voice the question in her head, yet alone speak it out loud, before Lora responded with something equally as perplexing.

"Avery's too young to have come into his powers," Lora informed Selendrile with the confidence of a woman who was sure she knew what she was talking about.

"He's an elf," Selendrile corrected. "Any powers he may have are latent. Of course, he is only half elf."

Alys almost did a double-take at the tone of voice Selendrile was using. Lora probably didn't detect it since this was the first conversation she had with the dragon, but Alys was well-versed with many of Selendrile's moods and tones. He thought he was superior. To a child. It was almost laughable.

Lora pulled back, affronted, and Alys reevaluated her thoughts as to what Lora heard. "This is foolish," Alys interrupted before a petty squabble broke out between her two living friends. "We should get out of here before someone notices that about five people are missing and they all band together and come look for us."

"Or the house catches on fire," Selendrile said ironically, staring at a spot on the ceiling which was glowing with embers. Flames had yet to break out, but if the other dried-wood houses in the town were any indication, it would take little time for the whole house to be engulfed by fire.

Alys missed the pointed meaning behind his words because she was too busy appraising Lora, wondering whether the other woman would ever willingly leave her house now that she thought it was protecting both her and the baby. As far as Alys could see, her idea was founded. Something had saved the baby's life a few minutes before. There was no denying that. Carefully, Alys looked behind her to make sure the door was still closed. She thought it might be wise to pull the archer lying prone outside in through the door so his body wouldn't be visible, but the man had already fooled them once. "Lora, I'm uncomfortable with this situation. Can you guarantee that the house can protect you if we're surrounded like a hunted deer? Are you sure it wasn't just a one time thing?"

"I have faith," Lora responded demurely, cooing at her baby for a moment before raising her gaze to meet Alys's. Her eyes burned fervently with her conviction in the magical elvish powers surrounding her house, and the fanatical expression reminded Alys of Inquisitor Atherton. More than ever now Alys was convinced that it would be wrong to leave Lora behind, but it was incredibly obvious that they would never get her out of the house willingly. The backup plan of knocking her out and letting Selendrile carry her out was no longer an option, because the last thing Alys or her dragon companion needed was for the house, or the baby, to believe them to be a threat and deflect. They would lose Lora's trust for sure. The only option left was trickery of the verbal persuasion.

"Do you have enough faith to risk Avery's life?"

Lora smiled serenely. "You asked me that question before, when I was relying only on his promise. Now that I've seen it for myself, I know that he was telling the truth about protecting me."

"Alys," Selendrile interrupted. She turned her gaze towards him. "The roof."

"The roof?"

"The roof is on fire."

Alys looked up, finally able to see the unhealthy glow of the smoldering wood and thatched roof above her head. She muttered a vulgar swear-word she had learned from her father during the days he had worked while sickly and ended up ruining a quarter of his products through ill timing. It was not a period in her life she enjoyed remembering. Her concerned gaze turned back to Selendrile as she asked him what they should do with simply a glance.

"It can't protect you if it burns down," Alys told Lora, turning her attention back to the major problem at hand. Lora wasn't listening to her, she was staring at the ceiling herself with a stricken look on her face.

"No," Lora whispered, pulling Avery up so his cheek was next to hers. "He said that so long as I lived here I would be safe. He said that nothing could happen to me here." Tears were streaming fresh tracks down Lora's dirty face. She turned her anguished glance to Alys. "Shouldn't that mean that the entire house was protected?"

Alys didn't know how to respond. She opened her mouth, sure some comforting platitude would come out, but she realized she didn't want to comfort Lora in this instance. She wanted her frightened enough to step out the door and enable them all to flee.

Selendrile stepped forward. "He didn't just forget about you. If we're referring to who I believe we are, he's been missing from court since last summer."

"Think about it, Lora," Alys chipped in, shooting a look at Selendrile to tell him he was explaining this to her later. "This place didn't protect you from Conrad."

The wall ignited, the fire crawling down the dry wood.

"I have faith," Lora said hollowly, rocking back and forth. In her arms, Avery wailed in protest. His cry was barely distinguishable over the roar of the entire wall engulfed in flames and spreading.

"Leave," Selendrile shouted to Alys.

Instead, she stepped forward, her hand pressing against Lora's shoulder. Since her palm touched, Alys assumed she wasn't considered a threat. "I think it's time to leave, ok?"

Lora looked lost, staring wildly around her home and not comforted by what she saw. Slowly she nodded, taking a step towards the front door.

"The back," Selendrile commanded impatiently, herding them both towards the back entrance which had been closed off for the winter. He made quick work of pulling off the nailed boards with his bare hands. While he was doing so, Alys reached over and pulled the blanket tighter around Avery's mouth, the smoke coating the air was so thick it caused her to cough sharply. "Wait here."

Alys watched Selendrile's back as he exited the house and thought uncharitable things about his sanity. Neither Lora nor the baby seemed to be as affected by the smoke as she was, and Alys hoped Lora didn't take it as another sign that the house was protecting them. The thought certainly entered Alys's mind. Her lungs were just weaker, she told herself, after the sickness she had survived earlier that winter.

"I didn't tell him," Lora said.

"What?" Alys asked with her shirt pressed tight against her mouth. Still, she couldn't help but cough after the word robbed her lungs of air.

"Selendrile. I didn't pass on the message to him."

Alys simply shrugged in response, not willing to risk speaking again. Inside she didn't quite feel the relief she had expected. It seemed that her worries about that issue were long-past and Lora's timing didn't help. Maybe if she had less on her mind, she would be far more enthusiastic to hear that Selendrile didn't know she loved him.

As though he heard her thoughts, the blond dragon popped into the doorway. His hair gleamed in the light from the burning town like she was used to it doing, and he looked like a valiant knight with the sword strapped to his hip. "Run for the woods and don't look back," he told them. Alys thought it sounded rather ominous. Lora nodded solemnly, and Selendrile shot a concerned look towards Alys. She nodded like she knew he wanted, though she wasn't sure if her already burning lungs would allow her to run anywhere.

Lora bolted out the door and Selendrile pushed Alys out after her. For a woman with a babe in arms, Lora made quick work traversing the frozen ground and in no time she was zig-zagging into the sparse trees leading into the forest. Alys drew to a halt in the middle of the open back yard, doubled over and wheezing. It felt like the flames engulfing the house were now coating her lungs, and she couldn't draw in a breath. She forced herself forward by two steps before she fell into the frozen mud and newly budding grass on the ground. The earth smelled of decay, and the scent caked her nose as she strained to breathe. It seemed like an apt smell to accompany her final breath, she thought hysterically as she struggled to regain her footing.

"We can't stop," Selendrile breathed as he swooped towards her and yanked her to her feet. She took two more steps with him dragging her before she saw the first man run from behind Gorge's house.

"Sel-" she warned. In the distance Alys could see the bouncing white of Lora's dress disappear into the forest, and she felt a sense of relief that at least one of them wasn't trapped. She could only hope that there was no one waiting among the trees.

Behind the first warrior stepped another man, this one with a crossbow. Alys could barely see the weapon in the dim light, but what illumination there was emphasized the bulk of the triangular weapon aimed straight towards them. The first bolt whizzed through the air, narrowly missing the two of them by inches. As the crossbow was being reloaded, the first man was on top of them, swinging his sword over his head with a war-cry which echoed through the night. Selendrile sneered, easily drawing his own sword with a smooth shlick of metal and meeting the bone-jarring swing of his opponent without a flinch as the steal screamed. Selendrile pushed back against the locked swords, deflecting the attack and returning with one of his own.

While this was happening Alys's attention was on the man with the crossbow. She didn't like the idea of Selendrile forgetting about him and getting shot in the back mid-fight. She doubled over coughing, her body bent and convulsing like someone who was sick and couldn't get enough air into their lungs. Which, of course, she was, but she was also so much more than that. When she stood, one of her waning supply of knives was clutching in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, she released it and followed through, watching as the blade hit her target exactly. The man fell, already dead from the knife sliding through his eye like butter and entering the brain.

Selendrile swung again with his sword, his movements leagues more graceful and accurate than his opponent's even though this was the first time he had truly fought with a weapon. Alys allowed herself to watch him for a moment as he spun lethally, his hair swinging behind him like a pendulum of golden doom. This was, she was sure, what real sword-fighting was supposed to look like in the Arthurian romances she loved so much. She shook off her trance with a rueful shake of her head and cautiously approached the crossbow shooter. She couldn't detect any other men waiting to attack, but that didn't mean they weren't hidden in the shadows.

Alys stared down at this latest foe who had challenged her blade and lost. She felt that familiar twinge of regret for what she had fallen to, but also a sense of pride in her work. The blade had bisected the eye, leaving almost mirror imaged globs of gelatinous fluid leaking blood on either side of the blade. Alys felt her stomach churn as she grabbed the hilt of her knife and twisted as she pulled, enabling her to remove the knife with her minimal strength. Quickly, she wiped the blade off on the man's shirt, not looking down at it or into the ruined eye of the man lying on the ground. Quietly, she shoved the knife back into the scabbard and turned to see how Selendrile was doing. It was not surprising to find that he had worn his opponent down and was now zeroing in for the kill. Alys turned her eyes from him and scanned their surroundings. She barely noticed that her breathing had regulated itself.

"Ha!" Selendrile crowed as his opponent fell to the ground from an unspecified fatal wound – Alys hadn't quite been watching. His eyes locked with hers, blazing with victory from his match and the conquering of a mortal art of weaponry. Again, his amethyst eyes widening at something behind her was the only warning Alys had before something bashed against her shoulder and she fell heavily to the ground. She rolled on to her back in time to see the sword coming through the air, blade aimed for her throat. Kicking out with her booted foot, Alys hit the man right between the legs. It was not a move she had learned in warrior training, but one Risa had taught her long ago.

"Guh," he grunted, jerking away from her. Alys used this second of reprieve to jump to her feet. She considered going for the man's sword, but considered it a risk she wasn't willing to take. No sooner had she regained her footing when her shoulders were seized from behind. Alys jumped slightly, ready to berate Selendrile for startling her when she noticed the look on the face of the man in front of her. He was smiling. "Hold the lad. He's feisty."

Alys struggled as the person behind her slid his arms around her upper torso, trapping her arms to her sides. She tried to kick at him, but the man seemed impervious to her foot connecting with his shin. Alys shrieked as the blade of the sword flew towards her neck.

"Hold on," the man capturing her rumbled. "You're gonna hit me."

"How about the stomach?"

"Risky."

"How about you just let me go?" Alys asked sweetly. Instead, she was thrown to the ground again and the second man drew his sword as well. Alys cowered in the frozen mud of spring, glad that at least they'd be able to bury her body quickly. As the two men advanced towards her, she knew that her pitiful little blade wouldn't help her now. Frantically she glanced around for the fallen crossbow, but found it too far away for her to reach. She wondered where Selendrile was.

As if hearing her silent prayer, he flew through the air with a dragon's roar. Golden scales gleamed in the light of the moon and the flickering flames of the burning houses. His body looked like armour and his skin was twice as thick. Selendrile slammed bodily into the men, skidding to a stop on the rotting grass of last autumn. His taloned feet flexed, scarring the ground and eliciting a scream from one of the men trapped beneath him. His familiar purple eyes zoned in on Alys, still quaking with fear on the ground, and then he turned his attention back to the last of his foes. The man brandished his sword threateningly, the blade shrieking with an ear-splitting sound as it raked against dragon scales.

"What the-" the bandit questioned, staring up and up into the hauntingly frightful face of the dragon. Again, it seemed as though Selendrile sneered at his opponent, expressing with a single expression what he thought of their challenge.

The dragon's head swooped down, grabbing the man's head between his powerful jaws, and lifting.

"No!" Alys called out, attempting to stop Selendrile from killing a human. She didn't know why it was different for him to do so now after he had just killed one in human form without her really noticing, but it was. Alys thought it might have something to do with the eating part.

Selendrile ignored her, tightening his grasp. Blood splurted from his mouth and covered everything in a rain of crimson red. Selendrile shook his kill until the man's hand went lax and the sword fell from his grip, then Selendrile dropped him completely.

Alys stared down at the body and wondered why Selendrile hadn't made a snack out of it.

Without a sound, he changed back to a human male. Selendrile stood proudly with his feet immerged in the scars from his own talons. He was naked save for the coating of blood trailing down his chest. He leaned over and offered his hand to Alys. For a second she eyed him wearily, and then let him help her to her feet. Once she was standing again, a feeling of safety washed over her and she grabbed at him, pulling him against her in a hug as she sobbed against his shoulder. Her warm tears splashed against his skin, cleaning a trail in the blood towards his heart.

"Shhh," Selendrile shushed her, stroking her hair in a comforting gesture. "You're safe, I promise."

"How can you keep me safe if you'll just leave again?" Alys hiccupped, her inability to breathe caused by a whole different problem. The tears continued and she warred with herself to stop just in case there was someone around who could hear.

"I won't," he said vehemently, his voice harsh with the sincerity of his promise. "You're mine forever."

* * *

©RelenaFanel.may15.2007 

Oooo. Ominous sounding, isn't it? Selendrile. You bad boy. Oh, and also:

_Surprise! The End! __  
_

Watch for the sequel. It'll be out soon (whenever I get around to writing the first chapter).


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